Through discussion and cooperation, the United States looks forward to developing strong relations with its allys in the APEC community. Strong economic and military interests from the basis for United States participation in the APEC coalition. We plan to help foster economic development within the APEC community.

Our security and prosperity depend on our engagement where the interests of so many powers converge – and where we fought the three wars in the last half-century. An American with-drawl could shut us out of the world’s most vibrant markets, harming 40 percent of our trade and over two million of our jobs, and hurting our chances to benefit from more than $1 trillion in Asian infrastructure projects alone over the next decade. Every one percent increase in market share that we gain in Asia increases American jobs by 300,000. Already more than 2.5 million American jobs produce for export to Asia.

America has made a commitment to the Bogor Declaration of Common Resolve as well as commitments to strengthening our alliances, deepening our engagement with China, and enlarging the region’s community of democracies.

With regards to the Bogor Declaration of Common Resolve: the US feels that free and open trade should be accomplished in stages. Stage one being 3-4 years in length and comprised of trade and facilitation issues. The second stage, the next 3-4 years would be spent on GATT acceleration. The third stage goes beyond GATT in the sense of furthering additional tariff reductions.

The key element of regional stability lies with our engagement with China. The US believes that, while China holds the power to decide whether the next century is one of cooperation or zero-sum rivalry and conflict, as the world’s most powerful nation, the United States will survive and prosper under either vision. But, in a world grown closer, both the costs of conflict and the rewards of cooperation have risen. That is why America puts such great hope in a deepening engagement with China and the rest of the Asian-Pacific region.

By using America’s power to promote stability we accomplish two things. First, the lives of millions of people become more centered on Western ideals making entire nations more open to American influence. Second we spur economic growth that benefits all of our businesses and workers while still allowing the scale of benefit to tip furthest in the direction of America. With the growing interdependence among economies America hopes to retain her influence and unquestioned power base without the threat of war from impoverished countries while simultaneously furthering western ideals.

APEC economies have agreed to the objective of: ensuring adequate and effective protection, including legislation, administration and enforcement, of intellectual property rights in the Asia-Pacific region based on the principles of MFN treatment, national treatment and transparency as set out in the TRIPS Agreement and other related agreements. Each economy will:
A: Ensure that intellectual property rights are granted expeditiously;

B: Ensure that adequate and effective civil and administrative procedures and remedies are available against infringement of intellectual property rights;

C: Provide and expand bilateral technical cooperation in relation to areas such as patent search and examination, computerization and human resources development for the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement and acceleration thereof.¹

APEC economies have also agreed to extend debate on intellectual property rights policies among themselves. They have agreed to survey the present state of intellectual property rights protection in each economy and to develop a contact list of public and private sector experts on the enforcement of the intellectual property rights law enforcement. Exchange of information of well-known trademarks to establish a database for APEC economies’ trademarks. Dialogue is to be opened up on the discussion of simplifying and standardizing administrative systems among APEC economies. The most important agreement is the full implementation of the TRIPS Agreement by January 1, 2000 and ways to meet this goal.
Specific Policy of the United States of America regarding Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property is of immense economic importance to the United States. Proper protection of these rights fosters development in area of music, art, films, software and numerous other areas. The value of intellectual property rights ensures that inventors, artists and scientists can be rewarded for their work. This is the driving force behind the incentives for further development of artistic creativity and scientific advancement in the years to come. America must protect the success of its developments in the areas of medicine, computer programs, films and music to allow for further growth in these areas. However, most intellectual property is able to be reproduced easily. Toleration of piracy rapidly removes the incentives to further develop new creations. Thus, the "American comparative advantage in high technology" would soon be lost.² Following this loss would be the loss on benefits from new advances in public health, education, defense and democratization of information. We must insure that our trading partners pass and enforce laws that ensure respect for intellectual property rights.

The United States wants full compliance by all APEC members of the WTO agreements on intellectual property. We seek to address the problem of "end user" software in which one or two products are obtained legally and then mass produced with out authorization. The US also expects compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act implemented in the WIPO Treaties on 1996.

In 1998 U.S. trade with APEC totaled over $1.035 trillion, roughly two-thirds of the U.S. trade with the world. The United States has become actively engaged in APEC because the economic health of its members has become vitally important to our own economic well being. Sustainable development has become a priority to help the member economies progress. Here are the different issues in sustainable and a few steps that can be taken to achieve our goals.

The first issue of sustainable development is sustainable cities. The goal here is to improve the quality of urban environment while promoting sustainable growth. APEC ministers are implementing a "Program of Action on Sustainable Cities" which will take the following measures: bridge the knowledge gap, encourage investment, integrate agendas of the public and private sectors, engage stakeholders and draw on their creativity and knowledge especially at the community level, and enhance human well being and quality of life.

The next issue to look at is sustainability of the marine environment. The goals here are to prevent, reduce and control marine pollution, and to enhance the sustainable management of marine resources. In 1990 APEC launched the Marine Resource Conservation Working Group (MRC) to promote the initiatives in the APEC region which will protect the marine environment and its resources. It is also to ensure continuing socio-economic benefits through maintenance of marine environment quality.

Cleaner production is another issue of sustainable development. Cleaner production is the continuous application of an integrated preventive environment strategy to processes, products and services to increase efficiency and reduce risks to humans and the environment. To reach this goal we must conserve raw materials and energy, reduce toxic raw materials, and reduce the quantity and toxicity of all emissions and wastes.

The next issue to look at is sustainable agriculture. Here we integrate environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity into agricultural practices. In 1996 APEC established the APEC Agricultural Technical Cooperation Experts Group (APEC ATC). The group serves as a forum for member economies to enhance the capacity of agriculture and its related industries to contribute to economic growth and social well being in the region.

Sustainable forestry is the next issue of concern. Here we seek to ensure that forest management strategies account for the full range of environmental, economic and social values of forests.

The final issue of sustainable development is sustainable energy. In 1990 APEC launched the Energy Working Group (EWG) to maximize the energy sector’s contribution to the region’s economic and social well being, while mitigating the environmental effects of energy supply and use. We can use EWG to discuss member’s energy policies and planning priorities, and to share basic resource demand and supply outlook data. We can then consider the regional energy policy implications and responses to wide-reaching energy-related issues.

APEC gives its member economies a unique opportunity with which to explore areas of mutual interests. The United States Welcomes this opportunity, and hopes that we can readily identify these areas and begin constructive work towards acheiving our common goals. We believe that all of us will benefit from the opportunities that arise from a more open global trade environment. Mutual respect for intellectual property rights for works created in all member economies is an essiential element in creating an environment supportive of creative technological development. Protection for our fragile ecosystems through sustainable levels of development will also benefit not only each of us, but generations to come as well. We encourage our fellow APEC member economies to join us in working towards these important goals.