APEC members split over free trade issue

APEC members split over free trade issue

SINGAPORE (AFP): Developed and developing countries were divided at an APEC senior officials meeting here yesterday on how to approach the task of liberalizing trade in the Pacific Rim by 2020, officials said.

"I don't think something concrete can emerge from this Singapore meeting but (there will be) harmonizing of differences. We'll leave Singapore with more thought," said a U.S. official attending the two-day talks under the auspices of the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

The special officials' meeting was convened by Japan, which is trying to forge a blueprint on free trade endorsed by leaders of APEC's 18 economies at their summit in Bogor, Indonesia, last year.

Japan is scheduled to host this year's APEC ministerial meeting followed by a summit in Osaka in November.

At Bogor, the APEC leaders agreed to launch "free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific" no later than 2020, with industrialized members meeting the target a decade earlier.

Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said differences here centered on how countries would achieve this target after a meeting in Fukuoka, Japan, in February decided on a so-called concerted unilateral approach to the dismantling of barriers.

"Basically, it means you liberalize according to your own pace. But we accept that there must be some guidelines to this because, if not, some members will just window-dress and reduce tariffs for only charcoal and snow-balls," an official said.

Timetable

Conference sources said Chinese officials were among those who spoke up against adoption of a specific timetable for free trade.

The United States, with the support of several developed nations, was pushing for "specific measures," including a fixed time frame for free trade, the sources said.

"While the U.S. does not rule out adoption of the concerted unilateral liberalization approach, America essentially wants economy-specific measures which actually means tighter targets and specific time frames," a source said.

Sandra Kristoff, the U.S. co-ordinator for APEC affairs at the State Department who is leading the U.S. delegation here, declined comment, saying she would make a statement at the end of the meeting Wednesday.

APEC comprises Brunei, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.

Asked what Washington hoped the Singapore meeting would achieve, a U.S. official said: "... a direction to go for the Osaka ministerial meeting so that we will be able to present something substantial to the leaders."

Emilio Ruiz-Tagle, a Chilean foreign ministry official, said all APEC economies were seen "putting across their positions on the table openly" during the talks.

"Chile will be guided by consensus. While a process should be developed (to free trade), it must be balanced with different speed levels to achieve goals," he said.