’Chasm’ in trade talks
Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand
’Chasm’ in trade talks
By William Mace
4 May 2012
The TPP is a developing multilateral free trade agreement that aims to further liberalise the economies of the Asia-Pacific region including New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
It is estimated to be able to boost trade by $1.1 trillion by 2025.
Some critics say that target is too optimistic and, speaking at a United States-New Zealand Council conference this morning, Cal Cohen of the US TPP Business Coalition said there was ’’deep concern’’ among his group that every one of the nine countries involved had taken negotiating stances which were divorced from their ’’ambitious’’ political visions.
’’The essence of the problem is there appears to be a great gap between the ambitious vision of our leaders and what is being proposed at the negotiating table.’’
The United States itself did not escape Cohen’s criticism.
The US was insisting on protecting its markets from agricultural imports such as dairy and sugar and apparel imports, while New Zealand’s stance on intellectual property protection was a sticking point, particularly for American pharmaceutical companies, he said.
New Zealand’s drug buying agency Pharmac tends to shop around for generic pharmaceuticals rather than pay the high prices from US-based companies and the government has not been willing to change that approach.
’’While some of the chasm between the leaders’ ambition and some of the individual countries’ negotiating positions may well reflect the stage of the negotiations... there is great concern that the ultimate outcome, if even attainable, will be far less than comprehensive,’’ Cohen told the gathering of trade officials, businesspeople and politicians.
’’How can any product, service or core rule be excluded from the final package by one or more countries without the house of cards falling? We do not believe it can.’’
Former Minister of Trade Phil Goff also spoke, saying he believed New Zealand’s use of Pharmac as a drug-buying agency should, and would, be a bottom line for Kiwi negotiators.
’’I remember the time when we paid a whole lot more for our drugs because we were a small country with poor negotiating strength and by setting up Pharmac we had the chance to negotiate fairly for decent prices to ensure that our people got the drugs they needed at a price they could afford.
’’I am totally against the rip-offs and the counterfeiting, but at the same time that has to be balanced, in terms of what we put into place, against the interests of legitimate consumers and other innnovators.
’’I think it’s true that New Zealand does not want to go nearly as far as the United States will be pushing on this, and there are those on the other side of us that will want to go even less far again.’’
Other sticking points in the negotiations included Australia’s reluctance to allow the ’’investor-state arbitration’’ process which gives companies the right to sue governments.
Some South-East Asian countries are also seeking to exclude financial services from the liberalisation process.
Despite the difficulties three more economies - Japan, Canada and Mexico - have signalled a willingness to join the TPP talks, although speakers were unanimous that their entry could not slow the progress of the initial agreement.
Earlier, US ambassador to New Zealand David Huebner said the relationship between the US and New Zealand was ’’sizzling’’ and ’’sprinting forward at an Olympic pace’’.
However he emphasised that trade relationships were no longer in the ’’19th century model’’ of tariffs, subsidies and quotas, but included broader economic tools such as intellectual property protections, investment, migration, labour standards and currency flow.
