US president Barack Obama discussed a wide range of economic and trade matters at the 24th annual meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum leaders held in Peru on November 20. The president sought to reassure leaders from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) signatory countries about the United States’ strong support for trade and its commitment to strengthening ties with the Asia-Pacific region. He also commended those leaders who have already successfully worked with their legislatures to advance the TPP ratification process and encouraged additional efforts in this area.
In his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Obama also took stock of the evolution of US-China economic and trade relations. Among other things, he encouraged President Xi to advance reforms that will help China shift to a sustainable, domestic consumption-driven economic model including reforms of state-owned enterprises and efforts to strengthen China’s financial system and transition to a market-determined exchange rate in an orderly fashion.
In addition, he stressed the urgency of addressing excess capacity in industrial sectors, including by launching as soon as possible the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity in line with the G-20 leaders’ Hangzhou agreement. APEC leaders also adopted or reaffirmed various initiatives and commitments aimed at ensuring that the benefits of the global economy are more broadly shared.
