US trade talks fruitful says Sutton

Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton says he made progress on improving trade ties between the United States and New Zealand during a meeting late last week with US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

The two met for more than 90 minutes - double the time originally planned - and covered a range of trade issues, including agriculture and steel, Sutton said from the United States.

New Zealand was committed to advancing free trade, he said.

It also wanted to achieve a positive outcome from the recently launched World Trade Organisation Doha Development Round of multilateral negotiations aimed at reducing barriers to cross-border trade.

Issues discussed with Zoellick included the Bush Administration's positive progress towards establishing the Trade Promotion Authority [TPA] and the possibility of a trade agreement between the two countries.

"Trade liberalisation between New Zealand and the United States is a logical next step."

A free-trade agreement between the two countries would be mutually beneficial from an economic point of view and it could also serve as a catalyst for further trade liberalisation regionally and globally, including agriculture, said Sutton.

"The positive vote on TPA sets a good foundation for those of us working to advance the WTO negotiations."

But Sutton also told Zoellick of New Zealand's disappointment over subsidies in the recently enacted Farm Bill and the decision to introduce new tariffs against foreign steel to protect the sagging United States industry.

More than half of New Zealand's annual merchandise exports are agricultural goods and officials fear that the American Farm Bill will depress the prices of New Zealand farm commodity exports to world markets.

Sutton also reiterated his concerns about the impact US steel safeguards would have on New Zealand's steel industry, which does not receive any financial assistance from the Government.

"We are still exploring, both bilaterally in the United States and through discussions in Geneva under WTO rules, ways of addressing our concern," he said.

During his visit to the United States, Sutton also met Agricultural Secretary Ann Veneman, Commerce Deputy Secretary Samuel Bodman, members of President George W. Bush's economic team and members of Congress.