US Priorities for APEC

On Monday, November 17, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will convene their 2008 meeting in Lima, Peru. On Monday morning, Ambassador Patricia Haslach gave a press conference on US priorities for APEC. Here's a summary of points related to US-China interests:

• On China's financial stimulus package: "we look forward to getting more information on that."
• APEC must continue to recognize that trade and investment are the key drivers of economic growth and development in the region.
  
• The US has previously proposed that an APEC free trade zone, but this will require wide support and joint leadership.
• Promotion of food security, and a special nod to "Taiwan on - China on this one, the - a workshop that they held on disaster preparedness after the - after an earthquake in China."
• Interest in continued progress of IPR.
• Actually getting Doha done.
• Don't turn inward, possibly as much a suggestion for ourselves as anybody else.
  
• North Korea? APEC "is largely an economic organization" . . .

Thoughts?

Ambassador Haslach is understandably playing coy about the US full objectives for a meeting that has yet to begin.

There also seems to be some discomfort expressed by Ambassador Haslach because the US will have a whole new (or slightly altered) slew of trade objectives and a new ambassador to APEC in a couple of months. President-elect Obama may or may not have representatives in Peru next week, and his true stance on how free trade should be has proven difficult to determine. This is at least part of the reason why I think there might be a dual audience for Ambassador Haslach's statements, US and everybody else.

NOTE: Taiwan is not officially a member, but is represented in APEC as Chinese Taipei, hence the stumble on "Taiwan, uh China."