- Title: Heads of state arrive to second day of APEC meeting
- Date: 20th November 2016
- Summary: LIMA, PERU (NOVEMBER 20, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF PERUVIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE, HOME OF 2016 ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC) SUMMIT VEHICLES ARRIVING FOR LEADERS SUMMIT
- Embargoed: 5th December 2016 16:12
- Keywords: APEC meeting Pedro Pablo Kuczynski heads of state free trade Donald Trump Malcolm Turnbull Barack Obama
- Location: LIMA, PERU
- City: LIMA, PERU
- Country: Peru
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015990GG7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Leaders of the Asia-Pacific began their final day at a regional summit Sunday (November 20) as they continue to try and make sense of a new world following the surprising victory of Donald Trump as president of the United States earlier this month.
Leaders of Asia-Pacific countries are seeking new free trade options following Trump's promises to scrap or renegotiate trade deals.
All eyes were on China at this year's APEC summit in Lima, Peru just over a week after Trump's surprise victory in the United States dashed hopes of the largest-ever U.S.-proposed trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), coming to fruition.
U.S. President Barack Obama has championed the TPP as a way to counter China's rise, but he has now stopped trying to win congressional approval for the deal signed by 12 economies in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, excluding China. Without U.S. approval the current agreement cannot be implemented.
Trump campaigned against the TPP and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as bad for U.S. jobs. He said he would scrap the TPP and threatened to impose tariffs on imports from China and Mexico.
Following a meeting with Obama, Xi said Beijing's relationship with Washington was at a "hinge moment" and called for a smooth transition.
Xi has been selling an alternate vision for regional trade by promoting the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which as it stands excludes the Americas.
Chinese attendance at the APEC meeting was its largest ever and regional delegates said China would take the lead on trade if the U.S. turned toward protectionism.
The Obama administration has warned that the RCEP would not include strong protections for workers, the environment or intellectual property.
In Lima on his last scheduled trip abroad as president, Obama said the United States worked to include labor provisions in a U.S.-Peru free trade agreement to lift wages and standards for Peruvian workers.
TPP leaders held a meeting at APEC, where Obama urged them to work together to advance TPP, the White House said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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