Fighting Protectionism

Leaders of twenty-one major economies discussed how to keep momentum of free trade in Lima, Peru. The Leaders Declaration of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countered every kind of protectionism, based on the notion that the world biggest economy turned its back to free trade. Unexpectedly being the frontrunner of Trans-Pacific Partnership without a major follower, Japan insisted on the merit of free trade to protect its domestic interest in manufacturing.

Trump effect could also be seen in this international meeting, because the policies of United States President-elect Donald Trump were against the achievements of APEC, making anyone hard to imagine that Trump is going to be in a picture with other leaders of APEC one year later. “Following the path established in the Beijing Roadmap for APEC’s Contribution to the Realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in 2014, we reiterate our commitment to the eventual realization of the FTAAP as a major instrument to further deepen APEC’s regional economic integration agenda,” says the declaration.

APEC insisted on its effort to maintain fundamental structure of international trade. “We remain committed to using all policy tools – monetary, fiscal and structural – individually and collectively, to strengthen global demand and address supply constraints,” the declaration tells. “At the same time, we acknowledge that economies need to reach out to all sectors of our societies to better explain the benefits of trade, investment and open markets, and to ensure that those benefits are widely distributed,” adds the declaration.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe worked for maintaining momentum of TPP. “TPP produces free and just economic sphere. The benefit of free trade, in which effort brings reward, will be realized by the nations,” stressed Abe in the meeting. Not mentioning economic gap among the people in Japan, Abe required the leaders to make effort for persuading the people who believed in a theory that free trade worsened income gap among the people.

But, the news report rather focused on the interest of other leaders in the diplomatic debut of Trump in the meeting with Abe last week. “That was a shower of questions from other leaders,” told the assistant of Abe in the delegate of Japan. The eagerness of Abe to have the first meeting with Trump was ironically an approach to an incoming leader who upheld determined protectionism.