Obama reassures Apec leaders
‘Trade sceptic’ Trump seen as possible threat
LIMA: US President Barack Obama returned to the White House yesterday, ending the last foreign tour of his tenure as he prepares to hand power over to Donald Trump, amid unease about the Republican’s volatility and isolationist rhetoric.
Mr Obama headed home after the conclusion of the Apec summit, which drew together the leaders of the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member nations in Lima, Peru.
Apec l eaders ended their annual summit on Sunday with a call to resist protectionism amid signs of free-trade scepticism, highlighted by Mr Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. Mr Obama’s trip was marked by the uncertainty Mr Trump unleashed about the world order with attacks on free trade and the US role as global “policeman”.
The Apec forum also closed with a joint pledge to work toward a sweeping new free trade agreement that would include all 21 members as a path to “sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth”. “We reaffirm our commitment to keep our markets open and to fight against all forms of protectionism,” the leaders said in a joint statement.
Apec noted the “rising scepticism over trade” amid an uneven recovery since the financial crisis and said that “the benefits of trade and open markets need to be communicated to the wider public more effectively, emphasising how trade promotes innovation, employment and higher living standards”.
Deputy Prime Minister Prajin Juntong told the summit Thailand supported free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region. However, member nations need to review if those agreements really reflect their demands, he said. Thailand affirms its intention to cooperate with every economic bloc to achieve sustainable prosperity, ACM Prajin said.
The statement also said Apec members would adhere to the carbon reduction goals set in Paris last year to address climate change, a problem that they called a threat to food production and food security.
Speaking to journalists after the summit, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said the main obstacle to free trade agreements is the frustration felt by those left behind by globalisation. “Protectionism in reality is a reflection of tough economic conditions,” said Mr Kuczynski, the meeting’s host.
Mr Obama said an increasingly borderless world has brought “historic gains in prosperity, education and health”, but acknowledged globalisation had both winners and losers.
It was an awkward trip for Mr Obama, who campaigned against Mr Trump but had to reassure US allies on the future. He asked the world to treat the brash billionaire as he himself vowed to do: “Wait and see.” Yet, he sought to pre-empt his successor on some key issues. He claimed his signature trade agreement in the AsiaPacific, the TPP, was still alive despite Mr Trump calling it a “disaster” for jobs and vowing to kill it.
Mr Obama said the way to address income inequality and create jobs is through crafting trade policy and agreements such as the TPP in ways that will increase exports to the Pacific Rim countries that make up a third of the world’s population.
“When it comes to trade, I believe the answer is not to pull back,” he said. “The answer is to do trade right, making sure it has strong labour standards, strong environmental standards; that it addresses ways in which workers and ordinary people can benefit rather than be harmed by global trade.”
Questions about Mr Trump trailed Mr Obama throughout his trip as world leaders quizzed him on Mr Trump’s stances on key issues. On his final day in Peru, Mr Obama sought to reassure leaders that their longstanding ties with the US wouldn’t falter under Mr Trump. Leaders of other nations said at the Apec meeting they might modify the TPP deal to make it more appealing to Mr Trump or seek to implement it without the US.
Mr Obama said Mr Trump’s presidency would probably be far different from his candidacy. “Once you’re in the Oval Office, once you begin interacting with world leaders, once you see the complexities of the issues, that has a way of shaping your thinking.”
After talking to reporters, Mr Obama headed to the airport, where he jogged up the steps of the presidential plane, turned around to give two brief waves and ducked inside one last time.
WELLINGTON: China and New Zealand have agreed to start formal negotiations to upgrade the pair’s free trade agreement (FTA), the Pacific nation’s prime minister said yesterday while returning from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said via email the upgrade would ensure the existing trade agreement “takes into account the FTAs that China has negotiated with other trading partners since 2008”.
The first round of negotiations would begin in the first half of 2017 and would be followed by an as-yet-unknown number of talks that would take place in both China and New Zealand. Both nations said they were aiming to speed up the negotiation process.
Issues that would be covered include technical barriers to trade, such as customs rules, as well as e-commerce, competition policy and the environment.
China entered into a free trade agreement with New Zealand, the first Western country to do so, in 2008, which has helped the Asian giant grow to become New Zealand’s largest goods export partner. The value of goods and services exported from New Zealand to China was NZ$12.2 billion ($8.54 billion) in the year to June.
An upgraded agreement could bring increased revenues for the world’s largest dairy exporter, said the chairman of New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd.
“The upgrade provides an opportunity to strengthen the already strong dairy relationship between New Zealand and China,” said John Wilson, the chairman.
“We are committed to continuing to build our business in China and the FTA will remain the key platform for that growth.”