President Joe Biden attends this Thursday in Peru the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC 2024) to promote free trade among the leaders of the world’s 21 largest economies, amid a changing scenario that includes the transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump, known for his “America First” policy.
The members of APEC, a forum that emerged in 1989, focus on issues on the global agenda and seek to “revitalize” multilateral ties between these nations. This is the third time that Peru has hosted the forum, which this 2024 defends the maxim of empowering, including and growing economies.
Biden ran four years ago with his “America is back” slogan, but Trump’s victory raises some uncertainties about future American policy and could complicate efforts to reach an agenda on issues of global interest such as trade, poverty and debt relief, climate change, sustainable development and green energy.
“There will be a lot of mixed wailing, speculation and conjecture about what we will see coming first in terms of policies outside the campaign and how countries can best position themselves,” he told the Voice of America Víctor Cha, president of the Department of Geopolitics and Foreign Policy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
During his first term, Trump pushed for the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and threatened to withdraw from NATO.
The US government considers that “US allies are vital to the national security” of the country. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday: “They make us stronger. They multiply our capabilities. They take a weight off our shoulders. They contribute to our common causes,” Sullivan said.
He also highlighted that Biden’s participation in this forum occurs when US alliances in the region are at their “highest level”, with strengthened ties with Japan, Korea, Australia and the Philippines.
A crucial but non-binding forum
For some 35 years, the mechanism has been crucial in coordinating policies between economies that account for more than 60% of global GDP and nearly 50% of global trade.
This forum is non-binding, so it does not officially require its members to take action, and is based on consensus and open dialogue. Its purpose is to generate initiatives that improve the trade and investment environment for the 21 economies that make up APEC.
APEC members are: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, United States, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan , Thailand and Vietnam.
Given the “real risk” APEC can serve as a “counterweight”
Biden is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, Sullivan said Biden is also expected to hold a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of APEC with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Prime Minister of Japan. , Shigeru Ishiba, to “discuss the importance of institutionalizing” the progress made so that it is maintained during the transition to the new administration.
The director of the Peruvian Institute of Economics, Diego Macera, told the VOA that the transition of power in the US gives added value to this forum. “The presidential change in the US makes spaces like these that try to strengthen international institutions and multilateralism more important.”
Macera acknowledged that “there is a real risk that, as a reaction to what the US may do, the world will return to more protectionist times and zero-sum relations. That would harm everyone. APEC should hopefully serve as a counterweight to these tendencies”.
Geopolitical analyst Berit Knudsen told the VOA that the planned meeting of Biden and Xi “loses a little strength” with Trump’s victory, but admitted that “it is still important.”
Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Center for Geoeconomics, explained to the VOA that whatever expectations the next US administration generates, Biden’s role is to emphasize his faith in the “ideals of American engagement around the world.”
“[Biden] believes it is in the best interest of both the United States and the world for it to continue,” Lipsky said. “And no election and no president can undermine that, from his perspective.”
Biden’s agenda in Peru includes bilateral meetings with the summit hosts, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte. In Lima, Biden is willing to support Peru’s initiative to expand APEC’s economic inclusion efforts to empower workers in the informal economy, said Matt Murray, senior US official for APEC.
Experts consulted maintain that many of Biden’s efforts will be mostly symbolic and short-lived, as the incoming US administration could bring radically different priorities on global welfare programs and climate change.
Analysts say that while the world has seen American leadership swing from Republican to Democrat and back again in recent years, Chinese President Xi Jinping will seek to project an image of stability by exercising his vision of China’s greater role in the global scenario.
David Naval, an UBER driver in Lima, told the VOA that “China has had a lot of influence” in Peru and that he hopes that the interest of the United States will also “help” his country.
Opening of the Chancay megaport
This Thursday is the opening of the Chancay megaport, a 1.3 billion dollar project, which is part of China’s infrastructure investment program that has given it influence in various parts of the world.
Beijing has increased diplomatic engagement in the region, and Xi has visited 11 Latin American countries since taking office, according to China’s state news agency. Xinhua.
Also read: What we know about Peru’s megaport in Chancay
Whatever decision the next administration makes, it will have to find ways to manage the “difficult and complicated relationship” between the United States and China, a senior official said when asked what Biden might tell Xi to expect from the incoming administration. .
Unions and social organizations protest within the framework of the APEC summit in Lima
Hundreds of protesters protested this Wednesday in Lima, the capital of Peru, to express their discontent with the growing insecurity in the country, as well as other issues of interest while the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC 2024) summit is being held. .
Social protests in the context of APEC
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Lima on Wednesday to protest against growing insecurity in the country and harangued against the meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders this week in the capital of Peru.
The protesters stationed themselves in front of the headquarters of the Judiciary and then marched through the city center, away from the headquarters of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in a residential district, under the surveillance of dozens of police with plastic shields.
The protest was called by unions of transporters, merchants and worker unions who affirm that it will last until Friday, demanding that the government do more to fight against the increase in crime and extortion of businesses.
[Reporte adicional de Patsy Widakuswara, corresponsal de la VOA en la Casa Blanca]
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