Trade Tensions on Display at APEC Summit

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) officials downplayed apparent U.S.-China trade tensions at the trade group's gathering in Vietnam, saying August 30 that APEC is the alternative to U.S. "protectionism."Not every country wants to sign trade deals said Bui Thanh Son, the 2017 chairman of APEC senior officials. He did not elaborate when asked about reports that disagreements had arisen between Chinese and U.S. delegates, in addition to some internal discord over an APEC electronic commerce proposal."It's not just the U.S. and China having disagreements, we have other countries with disagreements—that is normal,” Son told reporters in Ho Chi Minh City, where two-weeks of APEC meetings just ended. "Our member economies participate from the economic side, not the political side," said Son, who is Vietnam's permanent deputy foreign minister.Hosted by Vietnam, the APEC talks throughout 2017 will be capped by a November summit bringing Presidents Donald Trump of the U.S., Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and others to the central beach city of Danang.Besides accusing China of dumping steel in the U.S., the Trump administration has ordered a more comprehensive inquiry into countries that have large trade surpluses with the U.S., many of them members of APEC. "Of course, we've heard the U.S. having a tougher line on some issues," Alan Bollard, the APEC Secretariat's executive director told Bloomberg BNA.Hoang Van Dung, the 2017 chairman of the APEC Business Advisory Council, said the Asia-Pacific bloc should stand firm against those in the U.S. rejecting globalization. "They don't like to remove tariff barriers, they want to impose protectionism," Dung said at the news conference. “Those are the issues that we need to fight, together," he added.