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APEC agrees to shun protectionist measures
1 of 2. Trade ministers pose for a group photo during the APEC 2009 Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Singapore July 21, 2009. The ministers are (front row L-R) Australia's Trade Minister Minister Simon Crean, Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affairs & Trade Lim Jock Seng, Canada's Trade Minister Stockwell Day, Chile's Vice Trade Minister Carlos Furche, China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming, Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Martin Perez, Singapore's Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang, World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy, Japan's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Seiko Hashimoto, Japan's Director-General for Trade Policy Hideichi Okada, Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Rita Lau, (back row L-R) South Korea's Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon, Indonesia's Trade Minister Mari Pangestu, Malaysia's Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed, Mexico's Secretary of Economy Gerado Ruiz Mateos, New Zealand's Trade Minister Tim Groser, Philippines' Secretary of Trade and Industry Peter Favila, Russia's Vice Minister for Economic Development Andrey Siepnev, Thailand's Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai, Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-Ming, U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk, Vietnam's Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang and APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Chairperson Teng Theng Dar.
Credit: Reuters/Tim Chong
SINGAPORE |
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group agreed at talks on Tuesday to stop protectionist measures, in an effort to enhance global trade, a trade official told Reuters.
"They all agreed that even if the measures are WTO-consistent, if they have serious protectionist impact on trade and investment they will refrain from taking those measures as much as possible," said the official, who is attending the two-day trade discussions being held in Singapore.
"This kind of agreement will probably be announced tomorrow."
He declined to be identified because the talks were not public.
Earlier Thai Commerce Minister Pornthiva Nakasai said Australia and Indonesia brought up the subject of protectionism at the trade ministers' conference, while Thailand and Taiwan echoed their comments, saying it was hurting agricultural products and automotive exports.
World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy, also at the meeting, said this month that governments were unfairly blocking trade in response to the global downturn, hurting wealthy economies most and raising concerns about stimulus measures in both rich and poor nations [ID:nL1326500].
"Buy American" provisions in the U.S. stimulus bill generally require public works projects funded by the bill to use only U.S.-made steel, iron and other manufactured goods. Other countries have also issued "buy local" policies. (Reporting by Kazunori Takada and Kevin Yao; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)
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