Baucus lands APEC meeting for Montana

Baucus lands APEC meeting for Montana    The United States will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's meeting of trade ministers in Big Sky, Mont., the week of May 23, 2011, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Friday.
   The trade ministers are gathering this year in Sapporo, Japan, on June 5-6. The ministers' goal is to advance regional economic integration and the multilateral trading system.
   Montana is the home state of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who wields significant power over trade policy in Congress and requested Big Sky be the host city for the APEC meeting to draw attention to Montana exporters.
   In 2008, Montana exported almost $400 million worth of products to Asia.