U.S. Chamber to Carry Free Trade Message to APEC

BUSAN, Korea—The United States Chamber of Commerce today called on APEC nations to strongly endorse international trade liberalization during their annual conference beginning on Wednesday, and reiterated its strong support for a successful conclusion to the upcoming WTO Doha Round of trade talks.

"We have taken a big step toward opening up markets for American products, lowering tariffs, and creating more competition globally," said Myron Brilliant, Chamber vice president of East Asia and this year's chair of the APEC Business Coalition. "We're calling on trade ministers and other APEC officials to keep the momentum going at the upcoming Doha round."

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) is an organization comprised of 21 economies that together account for 47% of global trade and 2.5 billion consumers. The APEC meeting brings together heads of state and business leaders to discuss improving efficiency, transparency, and trade flows among economies across the Asia-Pacific region. This year's summit will focus on the Doha trade agenda and strategies to tackle the threat of avian influenza. "The United States and members of APEC must lead by example and continue to reject protectionism," said Brilliant.

At the conference, the Chamber will urge APEC member governments and business leaders to work together to contain the health and economic threat of an avian influenza outbreak by ensuring appropriate coordination detecting the virus and quickly restricting its spread. In addition, the Chamber will work to obtain a strong commitment from APEC member countries to strengthen intellectual property protection and enforcement. "We must insist that governments protect intellectual property and crack down on counterfeiters and pirates," Brilliant said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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