APEC ministers rebuff U.S. free trade zone idea

[madokie]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061115/ts_nm/apec_dc

By Bill Tarrant


HANOI (Reuters) - Ministers from the Asia-Pacific rebuffed a U.S. proposal that would have made the creation of a Pacific rim free trade area a central part of a Sunday summit to concentrate on reviving comatose global trade talks instead.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation foreign and trade ministers convened on Wednesday at the spanking new, German-designed $270 million National Convention Center in a Hanoi suburb ahead of the summit of their leaders scheduled for the weekend.

The U.S. proposal sparked robust debate that ended with the chairman deciding the idea of a free trade area encompassing all 21 members should be studied "as a long-term objective," Japan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsuo Sakaba told reporters.

But he added that the U.S. initiative to link APEC's economies -- which account for nearly half of world trade and generate 70 percent of global economic growth -- was appreciated.