NZ to talk trade in Washington
Trade Minister Todd McClay hopes to travel to Washington next month after receiving an early invitation from newly appointed US trade representative Robert Lighthizer, who is only a week into the job.
McClay said he met informally with Lighthizer ’’two or three times’’ on the fringes of a trade meeting in Hanoi, in addition to holding a more formal discussion.
Those meetings were very positive, he said. ‘‘He has invited me to come to Washington and talk to him more, so that is great. I have accepted that and hope the visit can take place in June.’’
The invitation came as New Zealand and Asia-Pacific nations decided to push ahead with plans to ratify the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement without the US.
McClay indicated he would not advocate for the remaining ‘‘TPP11’’ countries ditching or attempting to unpick a controversial chapter in the trade agreement that deals with intellectual property protections. The chapter contains a number of provisions advocated for by the US, including an extension to copyright and tougher penalties for some intellectual property offences.
But McClay said the chapter had few negative consequences for New Zealand and the overall agreement could unravel if too much re-working was attempted.
‘‘We may have a few things we would like to change, but if everybody does, you are talking about ‘re-negotiation’.’’
That would mean ‘‘the benefits of the agreement could be lost for everybody’’ and New Zealand could miss out on $220 million worth of tariff savings each year.
The TPP11 also wanted an agreement that was ‘‘attractive to the US, although it is for them to decide what they may want to do at any point in time’’.
McClay said New Zealand was working well with the US, which was the country’s top export market for beef and wine and ‘‘number two’’ for dairy.
The agenda for the Washington visit has yet to be decided but McClay said he would want to talk further with Lighthizer about how New Zealand could work with the US, particularly around trade in the Asia Pacific.
‘‘They have always shown leadership and we need them to continue to,’’ he said.
The joint action the US and New Zealand took against Indonesia in front of the World Trade Organisation on beef would probably be discussed.
McClay also wanted to discuss ‘‘areas where we may be able to help Pacific islands a bit more around trade’’.
There had not been much conversation between TPP11 countries on issues such as the intellectual property chapter in the TPP agreement, he said.
Leaks during the TPP negotiations indicated the final provisions in the chapter were heavily watered-down from the US’ original wish-list.
The chapter could introduce criminal penalties for using technologies to circumvent digital locks on the likes of foreign internet television services, but this is a grey area as it depends on the interpretation of existing New Zealand laws which have never been tested in court.
McClay said officials would meet in Japan in July to explore how the TPP agreement could be advanced.
‘‘Fundamentally, there is a very strong feeling among all of the countries that there should be no re-negotiation and that changes should be as minor as possible.’’