APEC 2016: Leaders discuss how to salvage Trans Pacific Partnership ahead of Trump administration
MALCOLM Turnbull will push Barack Obama for a reassurance that Islamic State can be wiped out from major strongholds in Syria and Iraq before his US presidency ends in January.
MALCOLM Turnbull will push Barack Obama for a reassurance that Islamic State can be wiped out from major strongholds in Syria and Iraq before his US presidency ends in January.
In a final meeting between the two leaders set for Monday at the APEC summit in Peru, the Prime Minister will thank the US President for his commitment to the Australia-US alliance.
But he will also be seeking answers about what an administration under Mr Obama’s successor Donald Trump might mean for Australian military commitments to multiple conflict zones, including Afghanistan, and whether Australia may have to go it alone in the Asia-Pacific.
With uncertainty surrounding the new Trump administration’s commitment to the fight against terrorism in Syria, the Prime Minister will seek a “prognosis” on the current offensives in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the IS stronghold of Raqqah — in which Australian forces are engaged — and whether they can be achieved before the end of January when Republican Mr Trump takes office.
Government sources told The Daily Telegraph the future of a region-wide $27 trillion trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, would be key to the talks, which are believed to be “extraordinary” for such a summit, with a “lengthy” meeting secured on the sidelines of the last leaders’ summit of the year in Peru.
With the election of Mr Trump overshadowing discussions of the two-day summit of 21 Asia-Pacific leaders, the challenge of balancing Australia’s trade relationship with China with the strategic and security relationship with the US were also set to dominate discussions between the pair.
Of immediate concern will be the ambiguity over the US pivot to Asia, driven largely by Mr Obama, and potential defence self-reliance in the region as China seeks to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Government sources said that situation could affect Australia’s trade relationship with China and our longstanding strategic alliance with the US.
At the heart of that was the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which demonstrated not only an economic commitment to the region but a statement of soft power to counter Chinese ambitions.
Mr Trump has vowed to tear up the trade agreement.
Mr Turnbull yesterday said that the outlook for realisation of the TPP would be a key focus of today’s discussions for both its economic and trade consequences but also the US strategic commitment to the region.
The two leaders met briefly yesterday at the head of a business summit where the issue of free trade dominated.
“We talked about the TPP today, I’m sure we will be talking about it tomorrow,” Mr Turnbull said. “The point the President made … is that our countries have a vested interest in free trade.”
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Originally published as APEC 2016: Leaders discuss how to salvage Trans Pacific Partnership ahead of Trump administration
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