Twenty-one Asia-Pacific economies making up half of world commerce made a plea on Thursday against protectionism and urged a quick breakthrough in global trade talks to beat the financial crisis.
Trade and foreign ministers met for two days of in-depth talks in Peru's capital Lima, seeking a formula to tear down tariff walls — the key roadblock in global trade negotiations — by the end of the year.
The push to resurrect the Doha round of WTO talks comes despite rising criticism of globalization in some quarters, as the world economy suffers its worst crisis since the Great Depression.
“We will stand firm against any protectionist sentiment arising out of this crisis,” ministers at the APEC forum said in a joint statement.
The ministers were laying the groundwork for a weekend leaders' summit, which is the last scheduled foreign trip for outgoing US President George W. Bush.
The ministers pledged to work to resolve the key WTO sticking point of tariff barriers by the end of next month, paving the way for an elusive global trade pact.
“A strong agreement would demonstrate the ability of the international community to work together to bolster a deteriorating global economy,” the statement said.
Leftist workers planned to meet Bush on his arrival yesterday with protests blaming him for setting off the global economic crisis by championing free trade.
Bush's successor, president-elect Barack Obama, backs free trade but has criticized US deals with some APEC members as harmful to US workers. US unemployment claims soared to a 16-year high, government data showed on Thursday.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab predicted that Obama would also pursue free-trade pacts.
“We all brought lessons from what happened in the 1930s when the United States and other countries took the wrong approach by raising barriers” and worsened the Great Depression, she said.
Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley said “we are simply running out of time” to show the potential of free trade.
“We can produce excellent news on the financial crisis if we have a Doha agreement in the next couple of months,” he told reporters. “We can also provide an excuse for those pushing for protectionism if we don't get the Doha round done.”
Free trade talks collapsed in July owing to acrimony between rich and developing countries — particularly the US and India — on how far to go in protecting poor farmers from the globalized economy.
The APEC ministers called on their leaders, including Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), to offer support to wrap up the global trade talks, launched in the Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.
“We are in a state of emergency,” Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said. “I sensed a strong determination in the region to work together.”
Also See: Legislature sends agreements for review
、 A worldwide vision of sustainable recovery、 Standard Chartered upbeat on economy
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS