Pacific leaders vow to fight protectionism

After lower-level meetings, U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin were due to arrive at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that brings together leaders whose economies represent 57 percent of global gross domestic product.

Xi urged regional leaders to advance both plans at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Free trade and growth had helped lift hundreds of millions out of poverty but scepticism of the benefits had grown, and APEC leaders could need to adopt a slow, gradual approach to opening up borders, Dr Bollard said.

Mr Obama also told Mr Xi that he had underlined the importance of US-China relations to Mr Trump, and stressed that there should be a smooth transition of bilateral ties. They also discussed the Islamic State and promoting open markets. Before leaving Lima he will hold a news conference at which he is expected to be asked about Mr. Trump, trade and other topics.

Trump campaigned for United States president on a promise to pull out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, and also threatened to impose steep tariffs against China and Mexico.

Trump campaigned against the proposal as a “terrible deal” that would “rape” the United States by sending American jobs to countries with cheaper labor.

“There is no doubt that if the TPP fails it will be a huge win for China, politically and economically”, said Brian Jackson, a China economist at consultancy IHS Global Insight.

Those policies would represent a sharp turn for the US, which has long promoted removing trade barriers to boost economic growth.

“Turning his trade-bashing campaign talks into actual policies could bash any hope that the Asia-Pacific leaders will finally have its much-wanted free trade deal”, said a commentary in the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday. “There is real concern that the U.S.is withdrawing from its traditional role”.

In a region hungry for trade, this has left even longtime U.S. allies looking to a once unlikely place to fill the void: China, which was excluded from TPP. “Without the US, it does change the economics of the whole thing quite a bit”.

Creating the system of free and open trade and a liberal investment regime in the Asia-Pacific region has been declared the main task for APEC until the year 2020.

During the campaign, Mr Trump called for greater protection for USA jobs and said he would tear up the Trans-Pacific Partnership – the biggest multinational trade deal in years.

“We’re not going to jump to any conclusion about what the incoming American administration is going to actually do”, Trudeau said.

He believed it was important to attend the Apec summit to keep momentum on trade going.

In this light, China pushed for the Free-Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), which is seen as an alternative to TPP, at this year’s APEC events.

He warned that all sides should prevent trade arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region from becoming fragmented or politicized.

Backed by China, the RCEP involves the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – plus their regional trading partners China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

It’s understood leaders are waiting and watching for the USA president-elect to appoint key officials and a trade representative before there is more clarity over America’s policy direction.

The Latin American leaders in the room, including Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, will also be looking nervously to the new U.S. administration.

Governments missed a deadline to conclude negotiations past year.

Xi arrived in Peru on Friday to attend the annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, scheduled for November 19-20 in Lima, and pay his first state visit to the Latin American country.

“Let’s not be confused”, he said.