KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's relationship with the United States - the world's major economic power - is markedly strengthening in a fashion that bodes well for long-term business relationships.
Seven years ago, the prospect that New Zealand would play host to a major bilateral forum at which Kiwi chief executives would hear first-hand a brilliant distillation of the strategic imperatives that will shape the Asia-Pacific from no less than former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage would have been unthinkable.
Armitage, a previous US defence official, hasn't been here since the nuclear row which resulted in New Zealand's suspension from the Anzus Alliance.
But his presence along with that of US Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill at the second United States New Zealand Partnership Forum in Auckland is read as signalling another shift in the tectonic plates.
Inevitably New Zealand's lengthy quest for a free trade deal took prominence. That won't happen anytime soon.
Lingering ill will over the resultant nuclear ships ban proved to be a major stumbling block in New Zealand's subsequent efforts to negotiate a free trade deal in concert with Australia or even go it alone with a separate deal.
The fractured relationships with Washington put paid to both initiatives. But the US has been quietly reassessing the value of its relationship with New Zealand and is now seeking to modernise it.
Hill made it clear that while the FTA would be logical at some time there is considerable water to flow under that bridge before Washington's in a position to do business with NZ. Partly this is because the Bush Administration has run out of political capital on the bilateral trade front. A major deal with South Korea has yet to be finalised. Now that President George Bush has lost Trade Promotion Authority the ability to get new deals has evaporated. But it's also because New Zealand has yet to build strong relationships in Washington to register against claims from other nations.
Toss in the World Trade Organisation's Doha Development Round (which still needs to gain more ballast despite WTO boss Pascal Lamy's statements to the contrary at last week's Apec meeting) and, the fact that the US has another Farm Bill in the pipeline and its pretty simple to see why New Zealand is not going to make it on to the United States Trade Representatives negotiating queue until a future Administration takes power. Bracket that.
What became clear was that there is sufficient good will to explore options that might make NZ an attractive bet in the future.
A suggestion that the United States Trade Representative's office examine what a bilateral deal could look like (even though negotiations would not start till some time in the future) was one option. Other options focused on using a bilateral US/NZ deal as a template for best practice deals that could also lead on to common platforms on competition and securities regimes. New Zealand is going down this track with Australia through single economic market negotiations. The basic Closer Economic Relations trade deal was signed decades ago but as time has gone by, it is being strengthened in new ways.
Suggestions include a pathfinder agreement linking Nafta (North American Free Trade Area) with CER which has been promoted by Trade Minister Phil Goff.
National Party leader John Key has signalled that he will look to make a step change in the relationship if the Government changes at the next election.
Key has emphasised National is committed to an independent foreign policy for New Zealand. There will be no renegotiation of the nuclear free legislation.
But he also wants to ensure that both countries move closer together on the economic front.
National trade spokesman Tim Groser suggests this could come through an inter-governmental dialogue. Not simply the track two relationship which has been built through the partnership forum.
The upshot of the forum is that both sides will now look at ways to explore some sort of economic superhighway to bridge New Zealand and the US.
