Prime Minister John Key is urging the United States not to lose sight of the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
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John Key speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in NY.
He met businessman and former NY mayor Michael Bloomberg overnight to discuss the issue.
“I don’t think there’s anything that is more important to this country in terms of legislation than passing TPP”, the billionaire said, shortly before his meeting with the PM.
Republicans traditionally have backed free trade deals, but the party’s presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has blamed the agreements for USA job losses and threatened to tear them up should he win.
Mr Key told his audience one of the major reasons for the U.S. joining the TPP was its strong interest in exerting influence in the Asia-Pacific – “the need for the United States to be part of the region and show leadership in the region”.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the TPP would not get a Senate vote this year, and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan has said he does not see enough votes for it to pass.
Australia has warned the United States it might join a rival trade deal led by China if the U.S. does not support the TPP which is a central part of the USA “pivot to Asia” which is part economic and part defence-focused.
“The TPP is important in maintaining the United States leadership and influence in the Asia Pacific region.
This will happen with or without the United States”. “But anyway, if the United States ceases to want to promote free trade and somehow close off, if you like, the USA as an open economy to the rest of the world, while initially and superficially that could look attractive, what we know is that over time, forces your companies to be less competitive, less productive”.
“We know where protectionism takes you”, he said. It would also leave New Zealand in the position of having to negotiate a new deal with new players.
Mr Key told the Council he welcomes the priority that the US Administration has placed on TPP’s passage through Congress this year.
It is one of two key messages Mr Turnbull is pushing in NY this week, with the other being his call for more orderly regulation of worldwide refugee flows to ensure the highest number of displaced persons can be helped without endangering domestic political stability and therefor crucial public support for much-needed humanitarian action.
Mr Key says while some in the U.S. might not think the TPP is the flawless deal, the idea that it can be renegotiated to get a better outcome is unrealistic.
There was some controversy around the deal, with the Auditor-General investigating the controversial Saudi sheep deal of 2013, and concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
But Mr Turnbull’s urging of U.S. political leaders to drag reluctant electors further along the path to trade liberalisation is not matched on refugees where he takes the obverse view, arguing governments can not afford to get too far ahead of ordinary public opinion.
“It’s another sign of things that we are doing”.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with Lucy Turnbull at the 9/11 Memorial in NY.
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New Zealand has already indicated it would be keen to get in early and strike a one-on-one trade deal with Britain as it pulls out of the European Union.
