FTA boost worth some gloating

Jacinda Ardern would be entitled to a little gloating after coming away with an upgrade to the China free trade agreement at the East Asia Summit.

It is not a brilliant deal. No trade agreement is. But the fact that it is finished should silence critics who take cheap shots at her official trips abroad.

It is doubtful that an upgrade concluded by National would have been any better.

It is time the petty politicking around trade between National and the Government stopped and a bipartisan approach resumed.

The suggestion by National’s Todd McClay that she should head to Washington to boost efforts to get an FTA is not becoming of a former Trade Minister.

He knows full well that officials were in Washington last month and are making progress.

The China upgrade, which was started by National, strengthens the Ardern Government’s credentials when it comes to trade, and Labour’s in particular after withdrawing its bipartisan support during TPP negotiations.

She also completed an upgrade with Singapore this year.

Petty politicking over trade is not one-way. Labour withdrew TPP backing for an electoral edge disguised as points of principle.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is the worst offender in this Government, last week criticising National for not having completed an upgrade of the deal with China.

The minor detail that National began the talks shortly before the last election was omitted, as was the fact Peters opposed the original China FTA and most other FTAs in the past 20 years.

The upgrade is a political win for Ardern, not Peters, although to be fair, she has not indulged in any gloating. No matter who it belongs to, a simple congratulations from National to the Government would be justified.