"No one was pretending that the two-day summit would eclipse Xi and Trump's tariff truce earlier in the week, but the US president's no-show at least allowed other leaders to amplify their messages the Canadian prime minister Mark Carney's dramatic pronouncement of the end of rules-based free trade; and Xi's call to arms as a torchbearer for free and open trade, a responsibility that once fell to Trump's predecessors."
"In the end, a vague declaration did appear, committing member states to acknowledge the importance of a trade environment that promotes resilience and benefits for all. It did not, though, mention multilateralism or the World Trade Organization, which sets the rules for global trade. The 21-member Apec is a loose coalition of countries united by little more than geography and divided along deep political and economic fault lines, from the liberal democracies of Japan and South Korea to autocratic regimes in China, Russia and Vietnam."
Trump departed APEC early, leaving treasury secretary Scott Bessent to represent the United States and creating space for Xi Jinping to dominate engagements. Xi conducted high-level bilateral meetings and positioned himself as a unifying voice and champion of the region's economic interests, presenting an alternative to America First protectionism. Trump received lavish gifts abroad while remaining absent from the summit, allowing other leaders to amplify trade concerns, including a dramatic pronouncement on rules-based free trade. APEC issued a vague declaration emphasizing resilient, beneficial trade but omitted explicit reference to multilateralism or the World Trade Organization, reflecting deep regional divisions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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