US-China trade war shadows APEC; No joint statement

An Asian economic summit, which was being held in Papua New Guinea, ended on Sunday without a joint statement because of US-China differences over trade.

Attributing the information to "a source within the meeting", CNN reported that all the 21 members at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit were in agreement, except China.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that disagreements over trade impeded the signing of a joint statement.

"There are differing visions on particular elements," CNN quoted Trudeau as saying.

This is the first time that the summit of global leaders ended without a joint statement ever since the forum was established in Australia in 1989.

Observers say US-China acrimony, which has seen them enacting tariffs on each others' billions of dollars worth of goods, overshadowed the summit.

CNN said, "according to a US official involved in the negotiations" China could have been concerned about a specific line about unfair trade practices.

The official said the most "problematic" line for the Chinese was, "We agree to fight protectionism including all unfair trade practices."

The escalating trade war between the two countries, especially after the imposition of 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese products amounting to USD 250 billion, was one of the major reasons behind the discord at the summit, reports emerged on Saturday.

Beijing's further retaliation with tariffs worth USD 60 billion on American goods further threatened new waves of tariffs in the near future.

Meanwhile, US Vice President Mike Pence, who attended the summit said, "China has taken advantage of the United States for many, many years and those days are over."

In an interview to The Washington Post last week, Pence stated that if China wants to avoid a cold-war situation anytime soon in the future then it needs to make massive policy changes in its economic, military and political activities as demanded by the States.