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![The 21 economies which comprise APEC are meeting at a time when Washington's future trade policies are unclear following the Trump election win [Xinhua]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/260599564_8-e1479550606137.jpg)
The 21 economies which comprise APEC are meeting at a time when Washington’s future trade policies are unclear following the Trump election win [Xinhua]
“In the US and Britain, protectionist tendencies are taking over,” Kuczynski said in an impassioned opening speech. “It is fundamental that world trade grow again and that protectionism be defeated.”
While the summit, which opens Saturday, focuses on the free trade zone, competitiveness of services, transport issues, and progress in trade liberalization and investment under the banner of “Quality Growth and Human Development”, the gathering of 21 leaders has been overshadowed by one man who isn’t even attending the proceedings.
Statements by President-elect Donald Trump about reversing US free trade commitments and policies have unnerved many global leaders who feel decades of negotiations are about to be undone.
“We talk about free trade. It’s not tree free trade; it’s stupid trade. China dumps everything that they have over here. No tax, no anything. We can’t get into China. The best manufacturers, when they get in, they have to pay a tremendous tax,” Trump has previously said.
APEC leaders see this as more than just posturing.
“We are facing a challenge in what concerns global trade: its growth has stopped in the recent years. We see that big companies have gone bankrupt or were forced to carry out restructuring. It is necessary to regain global trade growth and defeat protectionism,” Kuczynski said at a meeting with senior executives of international companies attending the summit.
Trump has also strongly criticized President Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) initiative and called it a bad deal for America. Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Chile and Japan who had agreed to the TPP are now wondering what kind of trade relationship will exist with the US.
The China-proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) is now likely to be in focus during the APEC summit as efforts for TPP appear to wane.
The summit will be attend by Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau, Shinzo Abe and Malcolm Turnbull and many others.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
