Public gets a say on trade
The chance of reigniting the globalisation debate carries some risks, Hamish Rutherford writes.
The public is set to be consulted on the future direction of New Zealand’s trade policy, potentially reigniting a debate on the spoils of globalisation.
A month after signing the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Government will soon announce a new consultation for a ‘‘comprehensive and inclusive’’ trade policy, probably in the next fortnight.
Labour has attempted to maintain a stance as a pro-free trade party, while pledging to add cultural and environmental clauses to future deals, as well as removing the risk of being sued by investors in international courts.
One industry representative who had been briefed ahead of the announcement was left with the impression that the process would, at least partly, be run independently of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat).
Consultation would be run with three groups: Maori, ‘‘civil society’’ and the public, the representative said, with export groups being told they would be consulted as part of the public consultation.
A spokesman for Trade Minister David Parker declined to give specific details of the plan.
However, Parker has spoken repeatedly of his support of free trade deals, but with more conditions attached than the former National Government.
Shortly after returning to the Beehive, Parker announced plans to ban foreigners from buying residential property, which he said was an issue of sovereignty.
‘‘The Government I am part of remains committed to maintaining this country as an open, outward-looking trading nation,’’ Parker told the Apec business advisory council in Auckland on February.
However, the new Labour-led Government has directed trade negotiators to oppose the inclusion of investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses, largely in a push to avoid a public backlash.
‘‘Our reasons for that are to garner public support for trade more generally.’’
Launching a consultation on such a contentious issue is not without risk. Amid a global upswing in concern about global trade, thousands of New Zealanders marched in the street against the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a deal which was modified slightly as CPTPP.
Many commentators have linked Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, and the election of Donald Trump as US President, to a widespread backlash about the benefits of global trade.
Parker has also indicated that some opponents of globalisation are confusing trade with different issues which cannot be stopped.
‘‘There are many who feel left out by greater globalisation. They may confuse issues of technological change and they are forces that can’t be stopped.’’
Business NZ’s Kirk Hope welcomed the consultation, but warned a less favourable stance towards trade could be unsettling.
‘‘It would be concerning if there was a fundamental view that we actually needed to take a different direction.’’