As Donald Trump and the threat to disrupt the status quo consumes the minds of international leaders gathered in Peru, the president-elect’s plan to scrap green energy investment could present opportunity for Australia.

“The election of Donald Trump has overshadowed everything,” said Australian Institute of International Affairs chief executive Bryce Wakefield.

The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit gathers 21 of the world’s largest economies with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Agriculture Minister Julie Collins representing Australia.

Trump has flagged tariffs on imports to the US of between 10 and 20 per cent, and up to 60 per cent on Chinese goods.

That has led nations to pivot their trade priorities, including potential shifts towards China but also among the middle nations in the region.

“You can predict a lot more co-ordination between mid-sized economies as they attempt to diversify their relations away from the United States during such a fraught period,” Dr Wakefield said.

Despite that, Australian trade might benefit should the incoming president scrap his predecessor’s Inflation Reduction Act which encourages green energy investment in the US.

“A lot of that investment may now be redirected towards countries with resources that are crucial to the green economy, and Australia is one of those countries with important resources like lithium that are used in batteries.”

Australia would be pushing to liberalise trade through measures such as digitising trade documents to increase efficiency, promoting its green agricultural products and building on trade co-operation, former trade minister and Australian APEC Study Centre director Craig Emerson said.

“We are great champions of free and open trade, and it gives Australia an opportunity to reaffirm that,” he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that unilateralism and protectionism needed to be rejected in favour of economic globalization, reported Reuters

Trump has promised to impose tariffs of 60% on US imports of Chinese goods.

“China will implement more independent and unilateral opening-up policies, expand the network of high-standard free trade zones facing the world, and open even further the door into China,” the Chinese leader said.

Anthony Albanese met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on the sidelines of the summit in Lima as he attempted to promote and bolster Australia’s trade interests.

Also in attendance is someone who would usually be one of the most important people on the world stage, but who Dr Wakefield says doesn’t have much to offer now.

“(Joe Biden) is sort of a mega lame-duck president because not only is he going out of office, but the president following him, it’s clear that his policies are going to be starkly different to Biden’s,” he said.

—with AAP