Letter on Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders'
Meeting
Dear Mr. President:
In preparation for your trip to Hanoi in November
for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting, the
President’s Export Council (PEC) would like to suggest a number of areas where
we believe U.S.- led trade initiatives could help improve the business climate
in the Asia-Pacific region.
The PEC regrets that the WTO Doha Development Round
has stalled, but we are encouraged that your Administration continues to look
for ways to jumpstart these talks. We
believe that the upcoming APEC meeting provides a venue for leaders of some of
the most dynamic economies in the world to renew their call for an ambitious
result in the multilateral trade negotiations.
While at APEC, the United States should send an
important signal to the developing economies in attendance that it understands
that reform of U.S. agricultural policy is necessary to achieve the market
access openings that U.S. negotiators are requesting. Further, it is necessary that the developing member economies in
APEC recognize the role they must play to advance the talks by holding members
of the G-20 and the G-33 accountable for their own “development” agenda.
Active U.S. engagement in regional forums such as
APEC is essential to promote economic liberalization to bolster trade and
investment. As Asia-Pacific's dynamic
economies continue to rapidly grow and increasingly integrate with the global
marketplace, we must work to make them more transparent, rules-based, and open
to American businesses. The reality is
that barriers to trade and domestic protectionist sentiment are the norm rather
than the exception in many such markets.
These protectionist practices must be challenged. This requires persistent engagement and
strong advocacy.
We
see an opportunity for the United States to play a leadership role in APEC to
produce constructive outcomes for the U.S. business community:
- We strongly
suggest, given the importance of APEC to the region, that the architecture
of APEC be enhanced to include an expanded secretariat with adequate
resources that could actively pursue APEC initiatives to improve the speed
and efficiency of their implementation.
- We urge our
government to use the APEC forum to call on the region’s economies to
adopt and maintain technical standards and regulatory policies,
transparency, due process and clarity of regulatory objectives in line
with internationally-accepted best practices. Convergence toward international standards and codes reduces
barriers to market entry, promotes competition and innovation, encourages
economic efficiency, and better protects economies from abuse.
- We
recommend that the United States urge APEC members to adopt government
procurement policies that are technology neutral, that encourage
competition, and that do not favor domestic suppliers over foreign
producers. Those APEC economies
that have not already joined the WTO government procurement accord should
be strongly urged to do so.
- We urge the
Administration to continue working to ensure that intellectual property
(IP) protection remains a top priority among APEC policy makers. IP theft curtails investment and
innovation, threatens public safety, and reduces government revenue. We recommend that APEC adopt
region-wide models for training enforcement officers, judges, and
administrative agencies. Effective
IP laws and regulations coupled with robust enforcement are key components
for developing a competitive investment climate and are in the best interests
of all economies, regardless of their level of development.
- We
recommend that the United States urge APEC to address current and
potential delays, backlogs, and disruptions in immigration and border
management systems that impede the movement of legitimate cargo and
travelers across borders and at the same time protect against illicit
trafficking in goods and currency.
From a U.S. perspective, as our agencies reorganize to fight
terrorism, we request that you ensure that our immigration policies and
procedures remain responsible, efficient, and fair. The challenges to temporary entry of
foreign business travelers remains an issue of priority for the U.S.
business community.
- We advocate
that the United States press for stepped up liberalization of capital
markets and financial services within APEC economies to enhance
competition, reduce costs, and bolster innovation. The United States should continue to
push our regional trading partners to open their doors to international
financial services firms and grant them the rights and benefits of
national treatment. We urge
continued efforts to allow the free cross-border flows of capital, subject
only to necessary prudential regulation that effectively monitors
cross-border capital flows for illicit purposes without restricting
legitimate business.
- We
encourage the United States to continue its active support of the efforts
of APEC’s Life Science Innovation Forum that aims to create market
environments in the APEC economies that will encourage and support life
sciences innovation.
- We
support advancing the U.S. bilateral free trade agenda with members of the
APEC economies. During the APEC
Leaders' Meeting, we encourage you to express the need for maintaining
high standards for FTAs that are comprehensive in nature, including all
products and all sectors.
Non-substantive FTAs that create artificial trade preferences and
that selectively liberalize portions of the economy threaten the economic
advancement of those economies and their integration into the global
economy and will limit the opportunities for U.S. trade and investment in
the APEC region.
Mr. President, we wish you well on your
visit to the APEC Leaders' Meeting, and we thank you for your support of the
U.S. business community abroad.
Sincerely,
J.W. Marriott, Jr.
Chairman