The FINANCIAL — U.S. President Donald Trump has told an Asia-Pacific trade summit that the United States could no longer tolerate chronic trade abuses and would insist on fair and equal trade policies.
“We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore. I am always going to put America first,” Trump said in his address to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Danang, Vietnam, on November 10.
The United States has a huge trade imbalance with China and Japan, which Trump has previously visited during his ongoing 11-day Asia tour, according to RFE/RL.
Redressing the balance of trade between Asia and the United States is at the center of Trump’s “America First” policy, which he says will protect U.S. workers.
Trump has in the past accused China of stealing American jobs but he has since backpedaled on such rhetoric.
Speaking in Beijing on November 9, Trump said he does not blame China for the “unfair” trade relationship between the countries, instead blaming previous U.S. administrations.
America’s trade deficit with China reached $310 billion last year.
APEC consists of 21 member states from the Pacific region which together amont for 60 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.
Since becoming president, Trump has pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a major trade agreement which includes 12 APEC members, arguing it would damage America’s economic interests.
The U.S. withdrawal left the remaining 11 members struggling to keep the partnership alive. Leaders of TPP countries are due to meet later on November 10.
Trump, who has embarked on his current tour of Asia this week to try and rally regional support for curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, also said the region should not be held hostage by the “twisted fantasies” of leader Kim Jong-Un.
“The future of this region and its beautiful people must not be held hostage to a dictator’s twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail,” he said.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and the BBC
Discussion about this post