Asian and American leaders urged support on Saturday for a global free trade deal to offset a deepening world economic crisis but big steps forward could be tricky as the United States makes the transition to a new president, according to Reuters. U.S. President George W. Bush, who leaves office in January, China's Hu Jintao, and Japan's Taro Aso were huddling with other world powers for the second time in a week in a scramble to prevent a sharp global recession. The occasion this weekend in Peru was the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, or APEC, which groups 21 economies including Russia, Indonesia, Australia, Canada and Mexico, and accounts for more than half of global output. "It's important for us to continue to work together in this time of economic turmoil," Bush said on Saturday after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Bush, who is on his last scheduled trip abroad before handing over power to President-elect Barack Obama Jan. 20, called on his APEC peers to make a last-minute push for the long-running Doha round before the end of 2008 and reject protectionism. Nine APEC countries are part of the Group of 20 leading economies, which met last week and endorsed the goal of a reaching a deal on key farm and manufactured goods trade issues in the Doha round by the end of next month. The G20 also pushed for government spending or tax incentives to spur economies, and for stronger oversight of the global financial industry.
