Malcolm Turnbull joins other 20 other Asia-Pacific leaders for talks in Peru this weekend amid the spectre of a Donald Trump presidency.
The US-president elect won't be at the APEC leaders summit, but his presence will be keenly felt especially around any discussion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Mr Trump is expected to deliver the last rites to the controversial 12-country free trade pact after his inauguration in mid-January.
That won't stop the prime minister lobbying the US to ratify the TPP, with an argument the deal is in the superpower's strategic and economic interest.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo, who has arrived in Lima, says it's important not to pre-empt the outcome of the so-called lame duck period of President Barack Obama between now and the inauguration.
It was too early to say what might happen next and whether the new administration might be willing to go back to the drawing board and renegotiate the deal.
"President-elect Trump is not yet in the White House and we don't have a lot of flesh on the bones of his trade policy," Mr Ciobo told AAP.
This year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit marks the first major meeting of global leaders since Mr Trump's victory.
It will be Mr Obama's last hurrah at an international summit.
Mr Trump won't be in attendance but he will be the elephant in the room as leaders on the sidelines discuss the global implications of of his controversial policy agenda.
The president-elect has flagged a shake-up of US foreign policy and the possibility Washington may backtrack on the Obama administration's pivot to Asia.
During the election campaign he flagged the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea and Japan if the two countries didn't stump up more cash to support security alliances.
The world also faces the prospect of a trade war between the Washington and Beijing, with Mr Trump threatening to slap a 45 per cent tariff on Chinese imports.
With the TPP looking increasingly unlikely, leaders will turn their attention to negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership deal which includes China and India but excludes the US.
There will also be a focus on a moves towards an Asia-Pacific free trade area.
A study of potential economic social benefits and costs has been completed and leaders are set to agree to recommendations for the next steps.
It's understood Australia is not looking to lock in a specific timeline on progress but wants to continue talks on the concept.
Canberra views the TPP and RCEP as building blocks towards an Asia-Pacific free trade area.
Discussions will also focus on liberalisation of services and the need for countries to undertake domestic reform on competition policy.
There will also be a strategic dimension to talks on the sidelines such as the South China Sea and efforts to defeat the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria.
China and Russia are APEC members.
Mr Turnbull is expected to have bilateral talks with leaders from Southeast Asia and central and south America.
He also might get the chance to rub shoulders with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who is participating in the business summit of chief executives.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye will be a notable absentee at APEC because of an influence-peddling scandal involving an old friend that has rocked her administration.
