TOKYO (AP) — Trade ministers from 16 Asian countries are meeting in Tokyo on a regional trade pact, highlighting efforts to ensure free and rules-based commerce in the face of an increasingly protectionist United States under President Donald Trump.

Japan co-chairs the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, with Singapore, and seeks to take leadership in shaping the pact as an alternative to a Pacific Rim free-trade grouping that Trump had abandoned.

Japan says it hopes to conclude the pact by the end of 2018. Members of the initiative, launched in 2013, however still struggle with issues including tariffs, trade in services and investment rules. Japan is also cautious about China's influence.

The trade group also includes Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Korea.