The United States has pledged to take an “America first” approach to the latest round of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation talks, which are taking place in China weeks before President Xi Jinping’s visit to America.
The US State Department said: “US leadership in Apec is a key dimension to pursuing America first policies that foster prosperity and advance economic growth in the United States and across the region by breaking down barriers for US business, boosting fair and reciprocal trade and supporting American job growth.”
It added that the delegates, led by Casey Mace, the senior official for Apec affairs, would seek to create more opportunities for American businesses in fields such as agriculture and fisheries, energy, transport, health and food security.
The US also pledged to boost services exports and supply-chain innovation, as well as lead discussions on trade and labour-related matters.
Trade is expected to be one of the main items on the agenda when Xi visits the US next month in the latest effort between the two countries to stabilise relations in the wake of last year’s tariff war.
Xi hosted his US counterpart Donald Trump in Beijing in May, a trip that resulted in plans for US-China boards of trade and investment, although the latter has yet to get off the ground.
The meeting of Apec senior officials is the third of its kind this year and the largest yet, according to China’s foreign ministry.
The event, in the port city of Dalian, started last week and will run until Friday, bringing together more than 2,300 representatives from member states.
It will include nearly 130 events covering trade, transport, food security, customs, technology, energy and health, laying the groundwork for the Apec summitin November in Shenzhen, southern China.
According to the State Department, Ruth Perry, a senior US official overseeing ocean, fisheries and polar affairs, will lead a workshop designed to highlight American innovations such as satellite monitoring as part of Apec’s efforts to combat illegal fishing and marine debris.
At a separate meeting in Dalian on Saturday, Zhang Baofeng, deputy head of China’s General Administration of Customs, called on Apec economies to do more to remove trade barriers and ease cross-border bottlenecks amid increasingly fragmented global supply chains, according to state news agency Xinhua.
He said the need to align rules and standards and strengthen supply-chain resilience “had never been more urgent”.
Zhang called for greater regulatory coordination, lower transaction costs and more efficient customs procedures to create a safer, more transparent and predictable business environment. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
