United States on Track to Achieve APEC Free Trade Goals even with Increased War on Terror Border Control Measures
An independent assessment has found that the United States is on track to achieve the free trade and investment goals set by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The report concluded that measures introduced to fight terrorism have not hindered trade.
The assessment came as part of an independent review of the United States' Individual Action Plan. Individual Action Plans serve as roadmaps for APEC members to achieve the goals of free and open trade and investment in the APEC region, which they agreed in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994. The target for achieving the Bogor Goals is 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies.
The independent expert in charge of the review, Dr. Armando Caceres, Principal Researcher at the Group of Analysis for Development in Peru, prepared a report that documented that the US is well on its way to meeting the Bogor Goals in the thirteen areas under review. The key to US progress toward free and open trade and investment was the transparency and accountability of its economic system; strong regulatory review and reform tools, incorporation of information technology developments to promote trade facilitation; government relations with the business community; and leadership in free trade and investment initiatives at multilateral, regional, and bilateral fora.
"While there was the possibility that measures relating to the ongoing terrorist threat could affect US progress towards the Bogor Goals, this has not been the case," Dr. Caceres said, referring to regulatory measures United States adopted since September 11, 2001 as part of its counter-terrorism efforts.
"The US response to the terrorist threat has been consistent with the objectives of free trade and investment. Innovative projects such as the Automated Commercial Environment project and other reforms to use technology to ensure efficient and safe border processing continue to receive strong support from the US Government."
Dr. Caceres' research found that, as the United States is on track to meeting its objectives early, it has been able to focus its efforts on supporting multilateral and bilateral efforts to achieve free trade and investment goals across the Asia-Pacific region.
"The US is now engaged in active bilateral and regional negotiations to extend the model FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) negotiated with Chile and Singapore," Dr. Caceres said.
"This approach is consistent with (APEC's 2003) Bangkok Declaration that proposed advancing towards free trade in a coordinated manner using multilateral, regional, and bilateral frameworks. Along these lines, the US Enterprise for ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Initiative aims to establish a network of mutually reinforcing bilateral FTAs among the ASEAN economies."
Summaries on each of the thirteen areas of the US trade and investment regime covered by the assessment are available by clicking here. The full report will be available on the APEC website once it has been presented to APEC Senior Officials in Pucón, Chile, on June 1.
Four APEC Member Economies are having their Individual Action Plans reviewed at the current round of APEC meetings in Chile. This process involves a presentation by the Independent Expert to a meeting of Member Economies followed by an opportunity for these economies to question the economy under review on the details of their Individual Action Plan. The review of the United States' Individual Action Plan took place in Pucón this afternoon.