Pacific Rim looks to open markets to fuel growth

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Asian-Pacific leaders were working Sunday on a blueprint for future regional growth that calls for pushing ahead with free trade agreements and rolling back obstacles erected in the midst of the financial crisis.

While many participants at the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation remained at odds over currency policies and other issues, they appear to agree on the vital role freer trade can play in sparking growth.

"We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to achieving free and open trade and investment in the region," the leaders said in a draft declaration due for release after the talks ended later Sunday.

At APEC, where congeniality usually trumps conflict, leaders of the world's three largest economies pledged Saturday not to backslide into retaliatory trade tactics, a day after discord over such issues marred the meeting of the Group of 20 major economies in Seoul, South Korea.

The 21 APEC members, whose economies account for more than half of all world commerce, have agreed to refrain from imposing any fresh barriers to trade and investment, or measures to stimulate exports, until the end of 2013.

"We commit to take steps to roll back trade distorting measures introduced during the crisis," says the draft agreement obtained by The Associated Press, acknowledging that some economies may have resorted to emergency tactics to blunt the impact of the global slowdown.

The draft statement also notes a need to reduce trade imbalances and government debt to help ensure stable and sustainable economic growth. In a rare reference to contentious currency issues, it includes a pledge to move toward more "market-determined exchange rate systems."

Washington contends that China's currency, the yuan, is significantly undervalued, giving Chinese exporters an artificial advantage in overseas markets and contributing to the huge U.S. trade deficit. China and some other countries have slammed the U.S. for printing money to help spend itself out of recession, a policy they say is driving the value of their own currencies higher, flooding their markets with excess cash and fueling inflation.

But APEC's focus is mainly on long-term goals, such as eventually forging a vast region-wide free trade zone that would encompass all its member economies, from giants China and the U.S. to tiny Brunei and Hong Kong.