U.S. wants Asia-Pacific to make 'downpayment'<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): The United States called on Asia
\nPacific nations yesterday to make a \"downpayment\" on their
\ncommitment to trade liberalization at a trade summit in Japan
\nlater this year.<\/p>\n
U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Jeffrey Garten told reporters
\nat the end of a visit to Malaysia that Washington wanted the Asia
\nPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to come up with an
\nambitious plan at the Osaka summit in November.<\/p>\n
\"Generally speaking, the U.S. wants an ambitious plan because
\nif you aim low, the results are usually low,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Washington wanted the 18 members of APEC to \"agree on a
\nblueprint for trade liberalization in the early part of the 21st
\ncentury\", Garten said.<\/p>\n
\"We would also like to see a downpayment...we want to see
\ncountries make a commitment,\" he added.<\/p>\n
\"There is a lot of skepticism that together the APEC countries
\nare going to get beyond the rhetorical level,\" Garten said.<\/p>\n
At last year's summit in Bogor, Indonesia, APEC agreed to work
\ntoward an Asia Pacific Free Trade Area by the year 2020.<\/p>\n
The Osaka summit is meant to design a \"road map\" by which APEC
\nmembers will reach their goal.<\/p>\n
APEC groups Australia, the United States, Canada, Mexico,
\nJapan, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia,
\nBrunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Papua New
\nGuinea and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), all of
\nwhose members except Vietnam belong to APEC, has agreed to
\nimplement an ASEAN Free Trade Area by the year 2003 at the
\nlatest.<\/p>\n
\"For us, ASEAN is the motive for trade liberalization in
\nAPEC,\" Garten said.<\/p>\n
Noting that more than two-thirds of the U.S. trade deficit is
\nwith Asia, he said: \"There is tremendous amount of pressure in
\nthe U.S. to increase exports to Asia.\"<\/p>\n
Garten said ASEAN would probably become the second biggest
\nmarket, after Mexico, for American goods among the newly emerging
\nindustrialized countries in the next five years.<\/p>\n
He said ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the
\nPhilippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam, was the latest
\naddition to a U.S. top 10 list of emerging markets.<\/p>\n
\"This is a market of 400 million people with a GDP of US$500
\nbillion and our projections are that the GDP will double in five
\nyears.<\/p>\n
\"This means that with the exception of Mexico, ASEAN will be
\nthe largest destination for American exports of the 10 emerging
\nmarkets,\" Garten said.<\/p>\n
He said the United States will raise investment in, and double
\nexports to, ASEAN in the next five years, making the region its
\nlargest emerging market trade partner after Mexico, a senior U.S.
\nofficial said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"The U.S. exported goods worth $16 billion to ASEAN in 1989
\nand the figure rose to $32 billion in 1994. We expect the figure
\nto double again in the next five years,\" U.S. Under Secretary of
\nCommerce Jeffrey Garten said.<\/p>\n
\"We want to bring more U.S. firms, such as those producing car
\nparts and consumer goods to the region and expose them to several
\ncountries at once,\" Garten said.<\/p>\n
Washington is also looking at helping ASEAN upgrade its the
\nskills of its workforce, Garten said.<\/p>",
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