‘Prosperity for everyone’
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has joined Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Chile’s Sebastian Pinera in calling for a revived debate on the importance of trade.
Their meeting early on Wednesday (Thursday NZ time) in New York comes hard on the heels of a speech by US President Donald Trump in which he excoriated international trade rules and spoke strongly against globalisation and multilateral institutions.
Trump withdrew the US from the Trans-pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) trade deal, of which New Zealand is a member, and has used tariffs and other measures to put American exporters first.
Immediately after Trump’s speech to the UN, Ardern acknowledged many shared Trump’s sentiment against globalisation and free trade.
‘‘But it’s our job to make sure that we ensure our people benefit from trade; that we have prosperity for everyone.
‘‘We can either choose to do that through isolationism or through multilateralism, a collective approach.’’ She said exporters and businesses in countries like New Zealand needed the predictability that a multilateral approach provided.
Trudeau said progressive governments did not often talk about the importance of trade.
They needed to explain that it was not just important for growth but how to make sure the benefits were shared equally. Governments needed to talk more about other things delivered by free trade deals – like minimum labour standards, environmental protection and helping indigenous people.
Pinera said governments needed to prove and convince their people that ‘‘trade will be good for you’’. ‘‘Some people think they will be left out ... we need to not only convince people ... more trade and better trade will be to the benefit of all the groups, but particularly those groups that are reluctant about trade.’’
Ardern said in New Zealand the benefits of globalisation and the removal of trade barriers had not always been shared so trade ‘‘could be said to have lost a bit of its social licence’’. ‘‘That’s some of our early experience and some of the discussion around the [Transpacific Partnership Agreement]. We came away from that absolutely committed to rebuilding the trade agenda and making sure it delivers prosperity for all New Zealanders.’’
That was something New Zealand shared in common with Canada and Chile, she said.
‘‘So we launched a trade for all agenda; we’re asking New Zealanders what they want to see from future free trade agreements.
‘‘We want to model what prosperous trade that benefits and creates a more inclusive society and lifts everyone up more generally would [look] like.’’