Focus On Asia As China Looks For Trade Deal at APEC

The World Trade Organization's (WTO) top negotiator will head to Vietnam this week to meet with trade officials at the November 8 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ ministerial meeting, along with President Donald Trump, in Da Nang, Vietnam.WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo will deliver a keynote speech on trade, technology and globalization. The meeting comes at a pivotal time for the WTO as its members ready for the 11th ministerial conference December 10-13.WTO officials said their uncertainty about prospects for the biennial trade confab are due, in part, to the Trump administration's lack of engagement in the ministerial preparations. "We don't know what to expect from the Americans,” WTO Spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters in Geneva last month. "Normally you had a pretty good idea of what they were thinking and hoping for. Now it is not so clear."