Clarity sought on US TPP stance
AUCKLAND: Trade Minister David Parker says it remains unclear whether the United States is truly committed to returning to the Trans Pacific Partnership.
And if it does rejoin the agreement, the member countries would have to negotiate on how it would affect the trade deal.
US President Donald Trump has told top administration officials to look at signing back up to the 12nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Mr Trump campaigned against the deal during the presidential election, saying it was a ‘‘disaster’’. But he is now reportedly interested in the agreement again as a way to balance China’s influence in the region.
Mr Parker said there had been no official confirmation that the US planned to rejoin the TPP. New Zealand ambassador to the US Tim Groser is seeking clarity on the White House’s position.
‘‘We really don’t know any more than we did at Davos [in January], when President Trump said something similar,’’ Mr Parker said.
Since the US withdrawal, the remaining 11 countries have agreed to a new deal called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
It was signed off in March but has not yet come into force.
About 20 provisions of the TPP that the United States negotiated when it was a member have been suspended, such as keeping copy right at 50 years and requiring greater transparency around Pharmac’s decisionmaking.
And some new provisions have been negotiated since, such as narrowing the ability of foreign investors to sue governments.
Mr Parker said a key question if the US rejoined would be how it would affect these provisions.
‘‘That would be a matter for negotiation.’’
The provision allowing New Zealand to ban new house sales to nonresidents living overseas would not be affected, he said.
National Party trade spokesman Todd McClay, who signed the TPP as trade minister, said the US’ apparent change of direction was welcome and the Government should engage with US officials as quickly as possible.
However, he said the TPP was a carefully balanced agreement and Trump’s desire for a better deal could complicate things.
‘‘President Trump wants a good deal from America, which probably means he wants to go much further than the original TPP, and that would create problems for all of the countries, including New Zealand.
‘‘For instance, we know that there was great interest from the US around better access for their drug companies in NZ. We were very firm that the Pharmac model was not up for renegotiation and there would be no extra costs for Kiwis when it came to medicines.’’ — NZME
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said the United States would only join the Trans Pacific Partnership, the multinational trade pact his administration walked away from last year, if it offered ‘‘substantially better’’ terms than those provided under previous negotiations.
His comments, made on Twitter yesterday, came only hours after he had unexpectedly indicated the United States might rejoin the TPP. Trump told Republican senators earlier in the day that he had asked United States Trade Representative Robert Light hizer and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow to reopen negotiations.
In his Twitter post, which came during Asian trading hours, Trump said the United States would ‘‘only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama. We already have BILATERAL deals with six of the eleven nations in TPP, and are working to make a deal with the biggest of those nations, Japan, who has hit us hard on trade for years!’’
Policymakers in the AsiaPacific region yesterday responded to Trump’s initial announcement about the possibility of the US rejoining the trade deal with scepticism.
‘‘If it’s true, I would welcome it,’’ Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters after a cabinet meeting yesterday and before Trump’s tweet. Aso added that the facts needed to be verified.
Trump ‘‘is a person who could change temperamentally, so he may say something different the next day‘‘, Aso said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also flagged challenges to the Untied States rejoining the pact.
‘‘If the United States, it turns out, do genuinely wish to rejoin, that triggers a whole new process,’’ she said in Auckland.
The TPP, which now comprises 11 nations, was designed to cut trade barriers in some of the fastestgrowing economies of the AsiaPacific region and to counter China’s rising economic and diplomatic clout. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the pact in early 2017, citing concerns about U.S. jobs.
The other 11 countries forged ahead with their own agreement without US participation, and in the process eliminated chapters on investment, government procurement and intellectual property that were key planks of Washington’s demands.
The pact includes Mexico and Canada, which are in the process of renegotiating the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States. — Reuters