US Trade Representative Susan Schwab will travel to Southeast Asia and China beginning next week to discuss ways of boosting regional trade ties and reviving world trade talks after their recent collapse, US officials said on Wednesday.
Schwab will stop in Singapore, a US free trade partner, on Tuesday and Wednesday before travelling to Kuantan, Malaysia for the annual economic ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, the US Trade Representative's office said.
"I am looking forward to meeting with my colleagues from Southeast Asia to discuss joint plans for strengthening our trade and investment relationship," Schwab said in a statement. "We view intensifying relations with Southeast Asia as a top priority."
The ten members of ASEAN are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The fast-growing region includes about 500 million people with a combined gross domestic product of about $737 billion and total annual trade of $720 billion.
Top trade officials from India, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are also expected at the ASEAN meeting, one of the first big trade gatherings since a nearly five-year-old effort to negotiate a new world trade regime was suspended last month because of sharp disagreement over agricultural issues.
Schwab is expected to meet separately with Malaysian Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz to discuss the two countries' effort to reach a free-trade deal by the year-end.
The two countries are preparing for a third round of negotiations the week of September 18. At their last round in July, the United States laid out its minimum requirements for Malaysia to meet in a number of areas, including auto trade and government procurement, and is waiting to hear back from Rafidah, said Marc Mealy, director of the US-Malaysia Business Council.
Schwab will meet with Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai during a stop in China beginning August 27 "to discuss China's role in helping restart the Doha Round" of world trade talks, USTR said.
The visit is Schwab's first to China since becoming US Trade Representative in early June. It comes as many members of Congress are upset by the huge trade deficit with China, which hit a record of nearly $202 billion last year. Schwab will also urge China to take stronger action to stop the pirating and counterfeiting of American goods ranging from movies to medicines and press Beijing to open its market to more imported goods, USTR said.