YOKOHAMA, Japan — Asian-Pacific leaders endorsed a blueprint for future growth today that calls for pushing ahead with free-trade agreements and rolling back protectionist measures put in place during the financial crisis.
Wrapping up the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the leaders of 21 economies put aside differences over currency policies to voice a strong commitment to increasing the trade and investment crucial to the region’s growth and resilience.
Leaders representing the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and other regional economies also agreed on the need to reduce trade imbalances and government debt and avoid sharp, potentially disruptive fluctuations in exchange rates.
Although many participants remained at odds over currency policies and other issues, they appeared to agree on the vital role free trade can play.
“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to achieving free and open trade and investment in the region,” the leaders said in a declaration released after the talks ended today.
The leaders also agreed to take “concrete steps toward realizing a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific,” but set no timetable. The declaration said this goal should build on regional groupings such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a U.S.-backed free-trade agreement that nine APEC members are negotiating.
At APEC, where congeniality usually trumps conflict, leaders of the world’s largest economies pledged Saturday not to backslide into retaliatory trade tactics, a day after discord over such issues marred the meeting of the Group of 20 major economies.
The 21 APEC members, whose economies account for more than half of all world commerce, have agreed to refrain from imposing any fresh barriers to trade and investment, or measures to stimulate exports, until the end of 2013.
“We commit to take steps to roll back trade-distorting measures introduced during the crisis,” said the declaration titled “Yokohama Vision.” The statement acknowledged that some economies might have resorted to emergency tactics to blunt the impact of the global slowdown.
Asia’s robust and resilient growth has hinged on trade, and APEC, founded in 1989, has made knitting the region closer together its main objective.
The document also notes a need to reduce trade imbalances and government debt to help ensure stable and sustainable economic growth. In a rare reference to contentious currency issues, it includes a pledge to move toward more “market-determined exchange-rate systems.”
The United States contends that China’s currency, the yuan, is significantly undervalued, giving Chinese exporters an artificial advantage.
