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Under the chairmanship of President Obama, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum agreed today in Honolulu on a comprehensive set of measures to increase economic growth and job creation by expanding trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Leaders agreed to adopt market-driven innovation policies, reduce tariffs and eliminate other barriers to trade in environmental goods and services, and improve regulatory environments to reduce unnecessary burdens on businesses. These steps will help U.S. growth and jobs by expanding export opportunities in the world’s fastest growing region.
Since its first meeting at Blake Island near Seattle in 1993, APEC has served as the premier forum for U.S. engagement with the Asia-Pacific region. APEC’s 21 member economies comprise a market of 2.7 billion consumers, account for 44 percent of world trade, and represent 55 percent of global economic output (more than $35 trillion in 2010). Six of America’s 10 largest trading partners are in APEC.
The APEC Agenda: Creating Jobs and Growth
At a time of global economic uncertainty, continued focus on creating jobs and growth is vital. Strengthening regional economic integration will help U.S. businesses and workers compete more effectively in the Asia-Pacific. Strong, balanced growth in the APEC region helps keep U.S. businesses growing, innovating, and hiring. APEC plays a central role by removing barriers to trade and investment that U.S. companies face in the region, creating new business opportunities, jobs, and buying power for Americans. Since APEC was created, average tariffs in the region have fallen from 16 percent to 5 percent – on a volume of $2.3 trillion of trade between the United States and the Asia-Pacific economies. Since 1993, U.S. exports to other APEC member economies have nearly tripled.
In 2010, APEC economies purchased 61 percent of total U.S. goods exports ($774 billion in 2010), and over 37 percent of U.S. private services exports (over $205 billion in 2010), supporting five million American jobs. In Honolulu, the United States and other APEC economies took a number of concrete steps towards building a “seamless regional economy” by agreeing to take action in three priority areas:
1. Increasing Trade and Strengthening Regional Economic
Integration
Supporting the President’s goal of doubling exports in five years, APEC leaders agreed to reduce barriers to trade and investment by:
- Setting a model for innovation that is market-driven and non-discriminatory,
not government-directed and protectionist, in recognition of the key role
entrepreneurship plays in increasing productivity and ensuring economic
growth; - Showing leadership to launch negotiations to expand the product scope and
membership of the WTO Information Technology Agreement, which could create
significant market-enhancing opportunities for U.S. high-tech companies; - Making it cheaper, easier, and faster for businesses – particularly small
and medium-sized businesses – to trade in the region by exempting more low-value
shipments from customs duties and simplifying customs requirements and
documentation; - Launching an APEC Travel Facilitation Initiative to make travel in the
region easier, faster, and more secure; - Promoting domestic structural reforms in APEC economies to minimize barriers
to market-based incentives and to facilitate competition and opportunities for
U.S. exporters; - Improving food security by extending an APEC-wide standstill on agricultural
export restrictions; and - Promoting growth by taking concrete actions to expand economic opportunities
for women in the Asia-Pacific region.
2. Supporting Green Growth and Green Jobs
As part of our larger commitment to promoting a green economy, APEC leaders
agreed to support sustainable growth and create green jobs by:
- Developing a list in 2012 of environmental goods on which APEC economies
will reduce applied tariffs to 5% or less by 2015, and eliminating non-tariff
barriers to environmental goods and services, including local content
requirements, which will help lower their costs, increase the dissemination of
clean technologies, and create more green jobs; - Pursuing a more aggressive target for reducing energy intensity across APEC
economies by promoting technology and best practices in energy-smart buildings,
transportation, and infrastructure; - Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, which encourage wasteful
consumption, and reporting on progress annually; and - Incorporating low-emissions development strategies into APEC economies’
growth plans.
3. Promoting Regulatory Practices that Facilitate Trade and
Investment
Building on efforts at home to boost productivity and job creation while also
protecting the environment and ensuring public health and safety, APEC leaders
agreed on steps that will improve the quality of the regulatory environment for
U.S. exporters in the Asia-Pacific region by:
- Implementing a set of good regulatory practices, including ensuring internal
coordination of rulemaking, assessing impacts of regulations, and conducting
public consultation, in order to reduce unnecessary burdens on businesses,
costing time and money; - Improving the quality of regulations and standards for emerging green
technologies like smart grid, green buildings, and solar technologies to reduce
technical barriers to trade in those products; and - Establishing a fund with USAID support at the World Bank to strengthen food
safety collaboration in the Asia-Pacific, accounting for nearly half of global
food production.
APEC Economies – The Basic Facts
APEC’s member economies include: The United States, Australia, Brunei
Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia,
Singapore, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Thailand, and Vietnam.
Number of Economies: 21 (6 of them among the top 10 U.S. goods export
markets: Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore)
Market Size: 2.7 billion consumers
Combined APEC GDP: $35.2 trillion in 2010 (56 percent of world
economic output)
U.S. Benefits from Trade with APEC Economies
Total U.S.-APEC Trade: At least $2.3 trillion in goods and services
in 2010 (56 percent of total)
U.S.-APEC Trade Increase: Goods and services trade up 150 percent from $1
trillion in 1994
U.S. Jobs Supported: 5 million jobs
Existing U.S.-APEC FTAs: 7 (Australia, Canada, Chile, Korea, Mexico,
Peru, Singapore)
Top U.S. Markets in APEC: Canada ($249.1 billion)
(Goods Exports
2010) Mexico ($163.5 billion)
China ($91.9 billion)
Japan ($60.5 billion)
Korea ($38.8 billion)
Goods Exports to APEC: $775 billion in 2010 (61 percent of total U.S.
goods exports)
Up 26
percent from 2009
Up 53
percent from 2000
Up 139
percent from 1994
Key Export Categories: Machinery ($116.2 billion)
(Goods
2010) Electrical machinery ($110.8
billion)
Vehicles ($69.7
billion)
Mineral fuel (oil)
($39.7 billion)
Optic and
medical instruments ($37.9 billion)
Manufacturing Exports: $665.3
billion
Up 25 percent from 2009
Agricultural Exports: $83.3 billion in
2010
Up 17 percent from
2009
Top Agricultural Exports: Soybeans ($15.8
billion)
Coarse grains ($7.9
billion)
Red meats ($7.3
billion)
Cotton ($4.3
billion)
Fresh fruit ($3.4
billion)
Services Exports to APEC: At least $204.9 billion in
2010
(Private) Over 37 percent of total U.S.
services exports
Up 16
percent from 2009
Up 82
percent from 2000
Up 146
percent from 1994
Related articles
- Pacific Trade Pact Boosted By U.S. Neighbors (time.com)
- Apec members promise trade push (bbc.co.uk)
- President Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) (whitehouse.gov)
- Asia-Pacific leaders: Further freeing of trade crucial (ctv.ca)
- Pacific trade pact gets boost from US neighbors (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- PM pleased with APEC energy measures (news.theage.com.au)
- Obama: China Must Stop ‘Gaming’ The International System In Favor Of Its Economy (huffingtonpost.com)
- President Obama Signs APEC Travel Facilitation Initiative (damontucker.com)
- APEC: Trade pact gains, but friction remains (usatoday.com)
- Addressing Trade Barriers in the Asia-Pacific Region and Creating Export-Supported Jobs in America (whitehouse.gov)
