U.S. and Japanese trade chiefs have agreed in their first talks that Washington and Tokyo will establish "high-level" trade standards to promote their bilateral deal and bolster economic growth, Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko said Saturday.

"We have agreed that the two countries will work together to promote mutually beneficial trade, tackle trade barriers and trade-distorting measures, and create high-level standards," Seko told reporters after a conversation with Robert Lighthizer, the new U.S. trade representative.

The Japanese minister, meanwhile, declined to comment on whether Lighthizer, who has been taking a hard line on Tokyo, called for making the Japanese agricultural market more open, saying only, "We talked in a very good atmosphere."

During the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial gathering in Hanoi, they also shared concerns over "unfair trade practices by a third nation," Seko added, possibly referring to China.

The 69-year-old Lighthizer served as deputy USTR under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and has a reputation as a tough negotiator. He is credited with having Japan introduce a self-imposed ceiling on its steel exports to the United States.

The veteran U.S. lawyer took office earlier this month. Before the meeting, speculation grew that Lighthizer could put pressure on Seko to start negotiations on a U.S.-Japan free trade agreement.

As U.S. President Donald Trump has pursued bilateral trade talks rather than multilateral ones, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso have discussed trade issues at a high-level economic dialogue between the two countries.

At the gathering of ministers from the 21-member APEC forum, Lighthizer, who was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in earlier this month, made his international debut as U.S. trade chief.

Prior to the APEC meeting, Seko also met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

At the outset of the talks, Phuc told Seko that Japan has played a "very important role" in the Asia-Pacific region, adding trade ties between the two nations are "very good." Seko replied by welcoming Phuc's planned visit to Japan.

Seko plans to hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts during his stay in Vietnam, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.