YOKOHAMA, Japan – Leaders of the world's three biggest economies — the U.S., China and Japan — all pledged Saturday to push for free trade, apparently putting aside acrimony over currencies that threatens to revive pressure to raise trade barriers. The promises not to backslide into retaliatory trade tactics came at an annual summit of Pacific Rim leaders, just a day after a divisive summit of the Group of 20 major economies in South Korea. Speaking to a conference on the sidelines of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama, Chinese President Hu Jintao vowed to keep his country's markets open and seek more balanced trade, while gradually adjusting the value of the Chinese currency — which Washington complains is undervalued. "The international community should oppose protectionism in all manifestations," Hu said in a speech that avoided overt references to spats with the U.S. or Japan over currency policies and other issues. Though they may differ over details, the leaders from APEC — which represents more than half of global economic production and two-fifths of world trade — appear united in supporting more open markets. Hu and his host, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, held a 22-minute meeting Saturday on the sidelines of the APEC summit, despite frosty relations due to conflicting claims over islands in the East China Sea. Tokyo and Beijing have sparred recently after a Chinese trawler collided with two Japanese coast guard vessels near the disputed islands east of Taiwan. Thousand of anti-China protesters rallied outside the heavily guarded APEC venue Saturday, waving big Japanese flags and placards with slogans reading "Defend our territory" and "Defeat Chinese imperialism." "I think China is a threat to Japan," said Sayo Kuroda, a 19-year-old college student whose family joined the protest. Kan also was to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who recently angered Japan by visiting an island off its northern coast that both nations claim. Many in Japan and elsewhere in the region are looking to the U.S. as a counterweight to China's growing influence and sometimes aggressive stance. But the main focus of the APEC meetings will be devising ways to leverage more open trade for the sake of future growth. During their summit, the leaders are expected to agree to take concrete steps toward a Pacific-wide free trade zone that would slash tariffs and other barriers to exports. "Achieving free and open trade and investment is the surest way to accomplish common prosperity and greater stability in the Asia-Pacific region," declares a draft of the summit's final statement, obtained by The Associated Press. In a striking change from previous Japanese administrations, Kan has promised to further open Japan's sluggish economy, despite protests from farmers who fear the loss of subsidies and protective tariffs. "We have to grow with the fast developing economies of the Asia-Pacific," Kan said. "We will liberalize our trade." Asia's robust and resilient growth has hinged on trade, and the U.S. is eager to tap into that dynamism, said President Barack Obama. "In this region the United States sees a huge opportunity to increase our exports to some of the fastest growing markets in the world," Obama told the APEC conference. "For America this is a job strategy." At a divisive Group of 20 summit in Seoul, South Korea, Obama failed to win support for an open call for Beijing to more quickly raise the value of its currency. And though about half the leaders from the G-20 meeting traveled on to Yokohama, there was no sign that the ill-will shown in Seoul had carried over to the APEC summit, where meetings on the sidelines are considered an vital part of its annual program. Currencies, however, appeared to get more attention than they normally do at APEC meetings. The leaders' draft statement notes a need to reduce trade imbalances and government debt to help ensure stable and sustainable economic growth, and includes a pledge to move toward more "market-determined exchange rate systems." "That takes into account the concerns of many countries outside of the U.S. and China that have seen their currencies appreciate rapidly over the last two months. It's reflective of the views outside of the U.S. and China," said Philippine presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang. In the draft, the leaders also promise to reduce risks of disruptions from speculative capital, such as the huge flows of cash many in the region fear may flood their markets, driving their own currencies higher and prices higher, due to moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve to stimulate the U.S. economy by printing money. ___ Associated Press writers Jim Gomez, Eric Talmadge, Tomoko A. Hosaka, Malcolm Foster and Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report. YOKOHAMA – Asia-Pacific leaders endorsed a blueprint for future growth Sunday that calls for pushing ahead with free trade agreementsand rolling back protectionist measures put in place during the financial crisis. Wrapping up the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the leaders of 21 economies put aside differences over currency policies to voice a strong commitment to increasing the trade and investment crucial to the region's growth and resilience. Leaders representing the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and other regional economies also agreed on the need to reduce trade imbalances and government debt and avoid sharp, potentially disruptive fluctuations in exchange rates. While many participants remained at odds over currency policies and other issues, they appeared to agree on the vital role freer trade can play in sparking growth. "We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to achieving free and open trade and investment in the region," the leaders said in a declaration released after the talks ended Sunday. The leaders also agreed to take "concrete steps toward realizing a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific," but set no timetable. The declaration said this goal should build on regional groupings such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a U.S.-backed free trade agreement that nine APEC members are negotiating. At APEC, where congeniality usually trumps conflict, leaders of the world's three largest economies pledged Saturday not to backslide into retaliatory trade tactics, after discord over such issues marred the meeting of the Group of 20 major economies in Seoul, South Korea, late last week. The 21 APEC members, whose economies account for more than half of all world commerce, have agreed to refrain from imposing any fresh barriers to trade and investment, or measures to stimulate exports, until the end of 2013. "We commit to take steps to roll back trade distorting measures introduced during the crisis," said the declaration titled "Yokohama Vision" after the Japanese port city where the summit was held. The statement acknowledged that some economies may have resorted to emergency tactics to blunt the impact of the global slowdown. Asia's robust and resilient growth has hinged on trade, and APEC, founded in 1989, has made knitting the region closer together its main objective. The document also notes a need to reduce trade imbalances and government debt to help ensure stable and sustainable economic growth. In a rare reference to contentious currency issues, it includes a pledge to move toward more "market-determined exchange rate systems." Washington contends that China's currency, the yuan, is significantly undervalued, giving Chinese exporters an artificial advantage in overseas markets and contributing to the huge U.S. trade deficit. China and some other countries have slammed the U.S. for printing money to help spend itself out of recession, a policy they say is driving the value of their own currencies higher, flooding their markets with excess cash and fueling inflation. But APEC's focus is mainly on long-term goals, such as working toward a vast region-wide free trade zone that would encompass all its member economies, from giants China and the U.S. to tiny Brunei and Hong Kong. Forging such a free trade area, an idea first floated by the U.S. in 2006, would happen outside the confines of APEC, which is not a negotiating body. One possibility would be to build on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which currently includes only four small economies — Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. The U.S., Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Peru are in talks to join them. Other countries such as Japan are exploring the possibility of joining these trade talks — although Japanese farmers are vehemently opposed because they worry an influx of cheaper agricultural goods would ruin them. For the first time, the leaders also approved a growth strategy calling for balanced, sustainable and innovative growth both in the region and within their own borders. Countries should provide better access to credit and social services for women, the poor and other vulnerable groups, it said. They also intend to improve energy security and reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. Although APEC's focus is mainly economic, it noted the need to combat terrorism and other threats to security and stable growth, such as corruption, food shortages, disease and natural disasters. APEC also said that 13 of its member economies had made "significant progress" toward a goal set out in 1994, in Bogor, Indonesia, to achieve free and open trade and investment by 2010 for industrialized economies, while conceding more work was needed. Developing economies in the region were given until 2020 to reach these so-called "Bogor goals." However, eight such members volunteered to be evaluated along with five industrialized ones, the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. ___ Associated Press writers Jim Gomez, Eric Talmadge, Tomoko A. Hosaka, Malcolm Foster and Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.After G-20 rancor, Pac Rim leaders push free trade
Asia-Pacific leaders vow to work for freer trade
Sunday, 14 November 2010
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