Chile Cancels APEC, Potentially Affecting US-China Phase One Trade Talks

Chile will no longer host APEC meeting, raising questions about the status of phase one of the U.S.-China trade agreement, which was expected to be signed during the November summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The country will not be hosting the trade summit due to recent violent protests and social unrest, Chile's President Sebastian Pinera announced Oct. 30, according to Reuters. The summit was expected to feature a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after Trump said the two sides were “ahead of schedule” on the agreement’s first phase (see 1910280026). China said the deal’s first phase was “basically completed.”

It remains unclear if the two sides will find an alternative meeting place to finalize the deals’ details. The United Nations is “currently exploring alternative hosting options” for APEC, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said in an Oct. 30 statement.

Before Chile announced it would not be hosting the event, China’s Foreign Ministry said during an Oct. 30 press conference that trade negotiations are continuing at a “fast pace” and repeated earlier comments that the “technical consultations on part of the text has been basically completed.”