Obama says US will join Asia-Pacific free-trade area in strong show against protectionism

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Obama says US will join Asian free-trade area

SINGAPORE — Washington signaled it will resist protectionism as it copes with the economic downturn, announcing Saturday that the U.S. will join a free-trade area with other Pacific Rim nations.

Leaders attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore had expressed concerns that the U.S., the world’s biggest economy, might turn inward as it grapples with high unemployment and other urgent domestic priorities.

President Barack Obama, speaking in Tokyo before departing for the meetings in Singapore, announced that the U.S. would participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, joining Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei. The news drew loud applause at the APEC forum, and gave a boost to proposals to create a broad free-trade area spanning the 21-member forum.

APEC, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, was created to promote greater trade and integration among Pacific Rim nations. Its scope since has expanded to encompass a wide range of issues, including climate change, energy and food security, and politics.

In a surprise move, Peru’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country’s president, Alan Garcia, will leave early, missing meetings Sunday, to handle a spy case involving fellow APEC member Chile.

The global economic crisis — the most severe since the 1930s — is the clear focus of this year’s forum. While the worst appears over, the recovery has so far been fragile and risks still remain, leaders said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other leaders discussed new growth strategies following the financial meltdown. They are expected to push for faster progress in World Trade Organization talks on trade liberalization and in crafting a global agreement on responding to climate change.

Free-trade areas will help create American jobs, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in Singapore.

“We believe that a high-standard, regional trade agreement under the Trans-Pacific Partnership can help bring home to the American people the jobs and economic prosperity that are, in fact, the promise of a global trading society,” Kirk told business and government leaders on the sidelines of the APEC forum.

Kirk urged APEC members to work closely with the U.S. in stimulating recovery in a “balanced” way.

“This means the United States needs to consume less, and produce and export more, while many of our APEC members with surpluses should seriously consider the need to increase their consumption and imports,” he said.

He emphasized American willingness to expand economic ties across the Asia-Pacific region and the key role the U.S. plays in helping to lead global efforts toward freer trade.

“A rising tide lifts all boats,” he said. “If we work together to rise above this downturn, we can lift up all our economies and all our peoples.”

Hu on Friday cited China’s efforts to fire up demand at home through improved social services, tax cuts and other consumption-friendly policies, to make the world’s third-largest economy less reliant on exports.

He also called for better policing of world financial markets to prevent the kind of meltdown triggered by speculation in toxic assets and perilously high levels of debt.

Mexico’s president warned the United States against succumbing to protectionism.

“Protectionism is killing North American companies,” said President Felipe Calderon, whose country is eyeing 3 percent growth in 2010 after a 7.2 percent contraction this year.

Mexico’s economy is heavily dependent on U.S. trade and investment, and Calderon decried subsidies to banks and manufacturers, such as automaker General Motors Co., and so-called “buy American” provisions for projects backed by U.S. economic stimulus spending.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, making his first trip to Singapore, said protectionism is a “short-term” solution and stressed that trade is a powerful stimulus for growth.

On Sunday, Obama also is scheduled to hold a summit with 10 leaders from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar. He urged the regime’s military leaders Saturday to “unconditionally release” all political prisoners, citing detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by name.

In a lighthearted moment, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd quipped that during the crisis, “there has been ample opportunity not only for public policy but for prayer.”

Associated Press writers Jim Gomez, Eileen Ng and Vijay Joshi contributed to this report.