Thailand
Apec pre-summit talks stall on trade
DANANG: Ministers from 21 Pacific Rim economies who were discussing free trade and regional economic cooperation failed Wednesday to agree on a joint statement and have decided to extend talks to Thursday, the Japanese government said.
“The current situation is that experts are having trouble with the statement,” said Hiroshige Seko, Japan’s minister for economy, trade and industry, who attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum gathering.
The ministers met in the central Vietnamese city of Danang for the meeting, initially scheduled for a single day, as concerns mount over multilateral economic cooperation with US President Donald Trump’s pushing his preference for bilateral trade deals under his “America First” policy.
Earlier, Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Tran Tuan Anh, co-chair of the Apec gathering, expressed in his opening remarks the “determination of Apec in pursuing a free and open region for trade and investment.”
Trump, who is on a five-nation Asian trip, is set to make his Apec summit debut on Friday. He is expected to stress his preference for a “fair, free and reciprocal trading relationship,” while also pursuing a “free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
The focus of the Apec ministerial meeting has been whether unity on free trade will be maintained after a continuing dispute over protectionism meant the previous Apec trade ministers’ meeting held in Hanoi in May ended without a joint statement for the first time since 2012.
At that time, a chair’s statement was released instead as the representatives of 21 economies failed to reach a consensus on the wording.
Trump’s “America First” policy has stoked concerns about rising protectionism in the form of import restrictions and increased tariffs which could hamper free trade and global growth.
At the meeting, the Apec ministers also addressed measures to realize an Apec-wide free trade agreement called a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, covering about half of the world economy and 60 percent of global trade, according to Japanese officials.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono expressed hope for the installation of free and fair trade and investment rules that fit the 21st century.
On the sidelines of the Apec forum, meanwhile, the 11 remaining signatories of the Trans-Pacific Partnership came a step closer to a broad agreement to implement their free trade deal after the United States withdrew from it in January.
The 11 ministers are hashing out details to strike the broad agreement in time for their leaders’ meeting scheduled on Friday. They are still at odds as they discuss suspending some clauses in their original agreement in anticipation of the US potentially returning to the pact.
“As the co-chair, Japan presented a framework of the draft of the new agreement (on the TPP) and issues that remain to be addressed at the ministerial level,” Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s minister in charge of TPP, told reporters following the first day of TPP ministerial meetings co-chaired by Japan and Vietnam on Wednesday.
“Major issues have been narrowed down,” Motegi said, adding he “certainly” feels negotiations have gained momentum for a broad agreement. The ministers will meet again Thursday.
Apec groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
Of the Apec members, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are remaining signatories of the TPP.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/world/1356975/apec-pre-summit-talks-stall-on-trade