© Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden speaks throughout a welcome reception for Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) leaders in San Francisco, California, U.S., November 15, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/ File photograph
By Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will spotlight robust U.S. ties to the Asia Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) discussion board economies on Thursday, regardless of a failure to make progress on key commerce provisions sought by regional international locations.
Biden, who held a high-stakes summit with Chinese language President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, is because of handle a summit of CEOs on Thursday earlier than chatting with leaders from the 21-member APEC gathered in San Francisco for the group’s annual summit.
Biden will even participate in an occasion with the 14-member Indo-Pacific Financial Framework (IPEF) that his administration established to bolster financial engagement after former President Donald Trump give up a long-negotiated regional commerce pact in 2017.
U.S. hopes for an IPEF commerce deal had been dashed this week, after members couldn’t agree on bettering labor and environmental requirements or compliance, individuals briefed on the talks stated.
In remarks to APEC leaders, Biden will spotlight U.S. progress to fight local weather change, name for collective APEC motion, and “demonstrate this administration’s commitment to deepening economic engagement with the region,” a senior U.S. official informed journalists.
U.S. exports to the area have grown 12%, 60% of U.S. exports are despatched to a fellow APEC financial system, and APEC members have invested $1.7 trillion into the U.S. financial system since 2016, the official stated.
He stated leaders of Japan, Vietnam and Singapore would be a part of Biden at an IPEF occasion and spotlight progress in reaching an settlement on provide chains. The official stated the IPEF international locations would “substantially conclude” clear financial system and truthful financial system agreements.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stated earlier on Thursday IPEF international locations had agreed on a number of “pillars” of the IPEF initiative, overlaying cooperation on clear vitality and anti-corruption measures. Ministers additionally formally signed a beforehand agreed textual content of a 3rd pillar, overlaying provide chain resiliency.
Biden plans to emphasise his administration’s efforts to advance employees’ rights in remarks on Thursday, the U.S. official stated. He stated Biden was “committed to ensuring high labor standards, bringing workers’ voices decision making table and enforcing rules against unfair labor practices.”
Requested how lengthy the IPEF commerce pillar might take to conclude, the official stated most negotiations take years however the U.S. administration had stated it might be engaged on an “accelerated timeline.”
Biden will notice that firms based mostly in different APEC economies had invested greater than $200 billion into the U.S. for the reason that begin of his administration, the official stated, and that U.S. firms have invested at the very least $40 billion in different APEC economies in 2023 alone.
APEC members have been intently watching developments between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies and strategic rivals, involved that ever extra intense competitors might upset world commerce and safety.
On Wednesday would possibly in San Francisco, executives from prime U.S. corporations dined with Xi after his talks with Biden geared toward steadying relations.
China is able to be a companion and pal of the USA, Xi informed them, and he stated there was loads of room for bilateral cooperation, a part of a attraction offensive to reassure world enterprise and counter his nation’s struggles to entice overseas funding.
