Two-party approach to NZ-US trade

Tim Groser (top) and Phil Goff presented a united front when they met US Trade Representative Ron Kirk (L) in Washington. Photos / Mark Mitchell, AP

A public show of Kiwi bipartisanship infiltrated Washington yesterday as Trade Minister Tim Groser and his predecessor, Labour's Phil Goff, paid a joint call on the Obama Administration official who calls the shots in United States trade.

The duo's call on US Trade Representative Ron Kirk came as both politicians took advantage of their presence in Washington for the third US-NZ Partnership Forum to make use of the event by getting in the diaries of some influential Obama Administration players.

Kirk would have been left in no doubt after his meeting with the two men over the common commitment the major New Zealand political parties have towards advancing the cause of trade liberalisation in two pivotal areas: completing the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round, and getting some traction on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement involving the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Peru and Chile.

The agreement has been stalled since Kirk announced a review of US free trade agreement policy this year.

Kirk's blog spelled out yesterday that he and Groser exchanged views on the strength of the bilateral trade relationship and discussed ways to further co-operate in areas of mutual interest.

Key among them were a shared commitment to achieving an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the Doha Round next year and working together to ensure ambitious outcomes in the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum next month - code for getting some movement on TPP.

Kirk and his team were not available for further comment yesterday. But neither Groser nor Goff will be expecting major outcomes in the short term.

Right now the political atmosphere in Washington is dominated by incessant politicking over whether "President Obama has lost his mojo".

Debate concentrates on the difficulties he is facing getting support for his healthcare reforms, on the tricky White House discussions over whether he should fulfil General Stanley McChrystal's request to commit many more US troops to Afghanistan or face the prospect that the eight-year conflict will result in failure, not to mention the lampooning of him on television networks over the fact that he has not yet fulfilled some big-ticket election promises such as getting troops out of Iraq and closing Guantanamo Bay.

As Goff indicated yesterday, such issues did not leave the Administration with much political capital to spend on advancing freer trade.

Other sources agreed, suggesting Kirk's officials had made it clear in other forums that "nothing moved" until health was wrapped up.

But Groser, who has met Kirk six or seven times in the past few months, noted that while patience is the name of the game for those wanting to negotiate with the US, it was important that National and Labour demonstrated a united front on trade.

His invitation to Goff to join him at the meeting with the Trade Representative showed all the skills of his pre-politics background as a seasoned trade negotiator.

While neither politician would put it this directly, at least not in public, the political utility from a New Zealand perspective in presenting a united front means the US will not be tempted to play one major party off against the other when it comes to negotiating any bilateral tradeoffs within the prospective TPP.

In other words, the temptation for the US to stall on critical issues until the New Zealand Government changes hands or gives in to the incentive to reduce negotiating elements to a low-rent bottom-line is reduced.

Behind the scenes there is concern that the US might be marginalised, as the regional architecture, particularly within Asia, results in East Asia emerging as a powerful free trade area.

Our politicians will have made the point that strong and viable Asia-Pacific relations require the US to remain a major player.

The display of bipartisanship is not confined to the rarefied world of trade negotiations.

Tomorrow Groser and Goff will join two other leading New Zealand politicians - Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and Labour's trade spokeswoman, Maryan Street - and a cast of high-profile players from New Zealand and the United States for the third US-NZ Partnership Forum.

This is the first meeting of the forum since Barack Obama won the US presidential elections last November, just days before Prime Minister John Key led the National Party back to power.

The forum is branded "Trans Pacific Partnership: Deepening engagement, Expanding Opportunities" and is focused on expanding co-operation in trade, economic development, business innovation, climate change, energy and security.

It will be keenly watched by observers from both sides who will judge whether the two countries are continuing to move closer after the nuclear ships impasse.

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg will stake out the Obama Administration's position in the opening keynote address. His late confirmation as the opening speaker for the US side is being read as extremely positive.

Other major players include Kirk, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis.

There are plenty of sensitive issues that will be probed within the confines of a "structured conversation" - particularly security.

Other prominent US delegation members include the Special Assistant to the President at the National Security Council Jeff Bader; Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell; Under- Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher; former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; president of the American Motion Picture Association Dan Glickman; president of the American Council on Renewable Energy Mike Eckhart; and senior representatives of a number of corporates including Boeing, Cargill, Caterpillar, Constellation Brands, Google, Kraft, Mars, Oracle, Pernod Ricard, Pfizer, Time Warner and the US Chamber of Commerce.

The New Zealand side sports major players such as former Prime Ministers Jim Bolger and Mike Moore, who will co-chair the event, as well as business leaders from New Zealand's top companies, chief executives of Government departments and military heads.

Disclosure: Fran O'Sullivan is a participant in the US-NZ Partnership Forum. She was assisted by Air New Zealand to travel to Washington for the forum and personally underwrote all other costs.