By Jihoon Lee and Ju-min Park
GYEONGJU, South Korea (Reuters) -Member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum are close to reaching a consensus on a joint declaration at the annual summit in South Korea starting Friday, the host country’s foreign minister said on Thursday.
APEC is a non-binding 21-member forum accounting for 50% of global trade and 61% of GDP, and this year’s meeting has been overshadowed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies.
“We are very close,” Minister Cho Hyun said at a joint briefing with Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo, after chairing a ministerial meeting held ahead of the leaders’ summit.
Cho said negotiations were still taking place on a joint statement even for the ministerial meeting itself, but added that he was hopeful it would be adopted together with a leaders’ declaration when the summit concludes on Saturday.
Trump left the country on Thursday, after striking a trade deal with China earlier in the day. He also formalised a deal on tariffs with South Korea on Wednesday, after reaching a slew of trade agreements on the sidelines of a Southeast Asia summit in Malaysia earlier in his Asia trip.
“It is in line with our interest for the U.S. and China to find a balance and stabilise supply chains and other issues,” Yeo said, referring to South Korea’s two biggest trading partners.
China pressed on Monday for open trade and stronger economic ties at a Southeast Asian summit, where the U.S. was represented by two lower-profile officials as Trump left for Japan to meet its new prime minister.
Yeo said South Korea supported multilateralism and most member countries agree that there are challenges such as protectionist measures, non-tariff barriers and economic as well as security uncertainties.
Cho said tariffs were not the only problem disturbing the global trade order. There were several issues such as problems facing global value chains, he said.
APEC failed to adopt a joint declaration in 2018 and 2019, during Trump’s first presidency.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee and Ju-min ParkEditing by Ed Davies)
