APEC leaders to address ‘unfair trade practices’
DA NANG (Reuters) — AsiaPacific leaders yesterday agreed to address “unfair trade practices” and urgently called for the removal of “market distorting subsidies,” in contrast to communiques they have issued in the past.
A joint statement issued by 21 countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) following their meeting in Vietnam showed the influence of US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to rewrite trade pacts he sees as unfavorable to the United States.
“We will work together to make trade more inclusive, support improved market access opportunities, and address unfair trade practices,” the statement read.
“We urgently call for the removal of market-distorting subsidies and other types of support by governments and related entities,” it added.
In the statement, the leaders also agreed on the need to improve the World Trade Organization’s “negotiating, monitoring and dispute settlement functions.”
The 2016 statement was not critical of WTO.
Also in contrast to last year’s statement, which made no mention of bilateral trade, the leaders noted the “importance of bilateral, regional and plurilateral agreements.”
The change in the trade language shows the influence of Trump’s “America First” policy. Trump has said he prefers to do bilateral trade deals, and in one of his first acts as President pulled the US out of the ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.
Ahead of his trip to Asia, Trump last week called the US trade deficit with China “embarrassing” and “horrible.”
APEC ministers issued a separate joint statement earlier yesterday, three days later than planned because of wrangling over traditional language that the US wanted to change.
Trump, Putin to fight IS in Syria
Before the APEC leaders issued their joint declaration, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement on Syria that said they would continue joint efforts in fighting the Islamic State until it is defeated, according to the Kremlin.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the Kremlin announcement or the conversation the Kremlin said took place on the sidelines of the summit in this Vietnamese resort.
The Kremlin said the statement on Syria was coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson especially for the meeting in Da Nang.
Trump and Putin confirmed their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to take an active part in the Geneva political process, it said.
Washington and Moscow agreed there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict, according to the text of the joint statement published on the Kremlin’s website.
Television pictures from Da Nang showed Trump and Putin chatting — apparently amicably — as they walked to the position where the traditional APEC Summit photo was being taken at a viewpoint looking over the South China Sea.
Earlier pictures from the meeting showed Trump walking up to Putin as he sat at the summit table and patting him on the back. The two leaned in to speak to each other and to clasp each other briefly as they exchanged a few words.
Although the White House had said no official meeting was planned, the two also shook hands at a dinner on Friday evening.