The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.41           November 24, 1997 
 
 
Smoldering Crisis Will Mark APEC Summit  

BY MIKE BARKER
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -"Asian financial crisis will not derail forum's aim of bringing down area's trade barriers," declared an optimistic headline in the October 28 Vancouver Sun, referring to the upcoming summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

But the stock plunge on Wall Street and Toronto's Bay Street the day before, triggered by currency devaluations across much of Asia and the stock market dive in Hong Kong, laid that illusion to rest. Canadian Trade Minister Sergio Marchi announced October 28 that the APEC summit will have to be reorganized to deal with the Asian currency crisis.

The 18 heads of state meeting in Vancouver November 21-25 will find it all but impossible to gain a consensus on how to deal with the crisis. The rulers of the five imperialist countries that dominate APEC - the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand -may be united in their desire to expand exploitation of the semi- colonial countries, but as competitors in the world market their interests frequently collide.

The smaller imperialist powers within APEC tend to line up with the U.S. government against Tokyo, although they have disputes with Washington as well. The so-called salmon war between Ottawa and Washington is but one of a growing number of trade conflicts between these two rivals.

For Canada's rulers, the Vancouver summit was to be the crowning event in a year-long trade offensive in the region. After declaring 1997 to be "Canada's Year of Asia Pacific," Prime Minister Jean Chretien set out in January on his third "Team Canada" trade mission to Asia. During the trip the delegation announced a string of business deals worth a total of Can$2.13 billion (US$1.7 billion). Most of the deals, however, were in the form of memorandums of understanding, with no guarantee that a solid contract would follow.

Ottawa's efforts to diversify its trade and lessen its dependence on the U.S. market have been a failure. Exports to the Asia-Pacific region have declined as a portion of total Canadian exports, while the share of exports destined for the U.S. market has increased to more than 80 percent.

Nonetheless, as this year's APEC chair, Ottawa hoped to provide Canadian capitalists with a competitive advantage selling to Asian countries. On behalf of Canadian manufacturers, Ottawa planned to push for a reduction in tariffs and other trade barriers in areas such as wood products, fish, environmental technology and chemicals. In addition, Ottawa planned to join with Washington in calling for an end to all restrictions on the operations of imperialist banking and financial interests.

Underlying all the discussions about the Asian crisis at the APEC summit will be imperialism's fear that billions of dollars in outstanding loans owed to their banks are at risk of default.

Mike Barker is a member of British Columbia's Hospital Employees Union.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home