US President Barack Obama announced on Saturday the framework for a vast free-trade agreement spanning the Pacific as he sought a new era of US leadership in a fast-growing region.
“Together we can boost exports and create more goods available for our consumers, create new jobs, compete, win in the markets of the future,” Obama said, framing the Asia-Pacific as the key to restoring global economic growth.
Leaders from nearly 20 nations, including China and Japan, gathered for weekend meetings in Hawaii, where sunbathers and surfers had to skirt beach barricades and traffic snarls frustrated the famously laid-back locals.
Obama said nine countries had reached a “broad outline” on a free-trade pact called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and hoped by next year to be working on the legal text of a full agreement.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda gave a major boost ahead of the summit as his nation became the 10th member of the TPP, meaning that it will cover more than one-third of the global economy and could develop into the world’s biggest free-trade zone, dwarfing the EU.
“I have been extremely impressed already with the boldness of his vision,” Obama said after meeting Noda ahead of yesterday’s formal opening of the APEC forum.
Obama has set a goal of doubling exports to create badly needed jobs at home, but he also hopes that the TPP will serve as a strategic linchpin as the US winds down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and refocuses on Asia.
Pressing the US case for the TPP, Obama said that the emerging -agreement would be a 21st-century deal that ensures high environmental and labor standards and addresses new barriers other than tariffs.
“I’m confident we can get this done,” he said.
The TPP was signed in 2005 as an obscure agreement among Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. Obama suddenly turned it into the cornerstone of the US’ free-trade drive, with Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, the US and Vietnam now also in the talks.
In a joint statement, leaders of TPP nations said they shared a “strong interest” in expanding their membership.
The major outlier of the TPP is China, the world’s second-largest economy. Obama, shortly before holding talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), warned that Beijing must “play by the rules” in international trade and intellectual property protection.
The US has not explicitly ruled out China’s entrance into the TPP, but US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has linked the trade agreement to fundamental values, including openness and labor standards.
“It’s very important for China to join eventually, and China has left that possibility open,” said Peter Petri, an expert from the East-West Center thinktank.
“There are now differences between the US and China on some provisions, for example, rules about trade by state-owned enterprises. But it’s best to think of this not as breaking up the region, but as a move in a ‘bargaining game’ about what rules will govern cooperation,” Petri said.
Despite the US’ optimism about the TPP, Obama said that there would be “difficulties” and “sensitivities” among member countries. Most experts believe it will take years before a concrete agreement can come to fruition.
The details of the trade agreement remain vague and opposition has already built in several countries. Some farm groups in Japan and the US have voiced alarm that they would be swamped by global competition.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old