U.S. backs APEC mediation in trade disputes
U.S. backs APEC mediation in trade disputes
SAPPORO, Japan (AFP): The chairman of an advisory group to the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum said yesterday
that the United States was ready to promote a new multilateral
approach to trade disputes.
Fred Bergsten, a former assistant treasury secretary in the
Carter administration who now chairs the APEC eminent persons
group (EPG), said he saw a "major role" for the forum in
mediating in trade disputes which could reduce the pressure on
Washington to rely on unilateral threats.
"The United States, based on its history of trade policy, will
in fact strongly support the effort to have APEC cover additional
issues, to have APEC develop a dispute-settlement process that
will further expand the prospects for a multilateral response to
these issues," he said.
Washington is "very supportive and indeed welcomes the
possibility of having additional APEC rules," Bergsten added.
"That would reduce substantially the risk of continued resort to
these unilateral measures."
Speaking at a news conference after presenting a report to a
meeting of senior APEC officials in Sapporo, he noted "an
increasing number of very substantial trade disputes in the
region.
"The most recent was, of course, between the United States and
Japan on automobile trade. We know that more disputes are coming
between the United States and Japan. But there are a lot of
disputes among other countries.
WTO
"And we are in EPG are very concerned about the adverse effect
of those disputes on the other countries in the region," he said.
Bergsten also noted that the dispute-settlement procedures of
the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO) were limited.
"There are lots issues that are not covered by WTO," he said.
"The WTO is highly legalistic. We think in this part of the
world, it would be highly desirable to have a less formal, less
confrontational kind of mechanism. That would be like mediation
rather than arbitration."
Bergsten said it was "critically important" for APEC to move
forward in implementing the declaration of APEC leaders in
Indonesia last year calling for free and open trade and
investment in the region by 2020.
Ippei Yamazawa, an economics professor at Hitotsubashi
University who is the Japanese member of the EPG, said earlier
that the recent dispute over auto trade between Tokyo and
Washington heightened the need an APEC role.
"Bilateral problems are no longer something only two countries
can resolve, " he told AFP. "I have heard a lot of calls from
various countries for the creation of a dispute-mediation
service. Mediation must be one of the major tasks to be carried
out by APEC from now on.
"No one in the region can ignore the series of problems
between Japan and the United States," he said.
While Japan and the United States managed to avert sanctions
on Japanese cars with a last-minute compromise last week, other
bilateral disputes remain in such sectors as aviation and
photographic film.
As a first step, APEC needs to form a mechanism to involve
third parties in bilateral disputes within the region. "It's very
important to let all the members understand the need for a third-
country mechanism," Yamazawa said.
Yamazawa also indicated that APEC would eventually have to
formulate common rules for such a mediation service.
The idea of a "voluntary consultative dispute mediation
service" was included in last year's declaration by APEC leaders.
Such a service is expected to "supplement" the WTO.
The EPG, set up after the fourth meeting of APEC ministers in
Thailand in 1992, played a major role in framing last year's
declaration by APEC leaders and is expected to deliver another
report in late August.
The group has so far met twice in Japan and Canada this year
and will meet again in China next month and Brunei in September.
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, 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.