NEW ZEALAND SEEKS FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS WITH JAPAN, SOUTH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WELLINGTON 000180 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/ANP, EB, INR, STATE PASS TO USTR, PACOM FOR J01E/J2/J233/J5/SJFHQ, STATE PASS TO USTR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD PGOV PREL NZ SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND SEEKS FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS WITH JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND INDIA Ref A) WELLINGTON 121 WELLINGTON 00000180 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. In what has been predicted to be her last official overseas trade mission as Prime Minister ahead of the upcoming general election, Helen Clark traveled last month to Japan and South Korea to discuss securing free trade agreements (FTAs) with both countries. The timing of Clark's visit - just weeks after signing the NZ-China FTA (Reftel) in Beijing and just one week after President Hu Jintao's first official visit to Tokyo - was intended to strengthen New Zealand's hand in broadening its trade relations with other major Asian economies in advance of the East Asian Summit and to reinforce the Labour Party's trade credentials. Shortly after the PM's return, Trade Minister Phil Goff announced that "strong progress" is also being made towards a free trade agreement with India after talks held with Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath at the end of May. End summary. Trade Mission to Japan -------------- ¶2. (U) PM Clark met Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and senior members of the Japanese Cabinet on May 14 in Tokyo with the goal of advancing closer bilateral and regional co-operation. Clark secured a commitment from the Japanese Government to undertake a study of the benefits of a free-trade agreement between both countries. The commitment by Japanese PM Fukuda comes in stark contrast to fears that protectionist Japan would never consider such a prospect. It is understood by commentators that the Japanese Government was persuaded by Clark's suggestions that a deal with New Zealand could help secure supplies of quality food to Japan as a world food crisis looms. Prior to leaving, Helen Clark said Japan remained the world's second largest economy - taking almost twice as many New Zealand exports as China - and a deal would provide huge benefits to New Zealand's economy. "No one is saying the road forward is quick and simple, but we've never been able to get that started before and in trade policy terms it is very exciting," exclaimed Clark. ¶3. (U) Today New Zealand goods enjoy a somewhat higher profile in Japan than they have in the past. Japan is New Zealand's third-largest export market and two-way trade now amounts to NZ$7.3 
billion which has grown from around NZ$2.6 billion back in 1984 and New Zealand sends 15 per cent of its exports to Japan, almost three times the amount currently sent to China. Aside from key agricultural goods, other exports from New Zealand include aluminum, forestry products and meat. Japan's main exports to New Zealand are cars, precision machinery and electronics. Despite this growth, the prospects for greater trade access to the Japanese market remain somewhat difficult with contentious issues on remaining on both sides. New Zealanders are apt to have concerns over Japan's whaling policies while Japanese farmers are not likely to welcome increased competition from New Zealand's agricultural exports. ¶4. (U) Anticipating possible negative reaction by domestic press in NZ that closer economic links with Japan would come with political costs, Clark preemptively raised the whaling issue with Mr. Fukuda, stating New Zealand's opposition to Japan's "scientific whaling program" in the Southern Ocean remains. She had a more detailed private discussion on the issue with Japan's chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura - the equivalent of New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister. Mr. Machimura reportedly said the Japanese Government would be bringing together all the ministers with some input into whaling before June's International Whaling Commission meeting in Chile to assess its position. ¶5. (SBU) Japanese protectionist sentiment may prove more difficult for New Zealand trade negotiators to overcome. The current state of FTA negotiations between Australia and Japan have come to a standstill in the fourth round on such key products as wheat, beef, dairy, sugar and rice concessions. In the hope of softening similar Japanese resistance to increased NZ imports, New Zealand business leaders are exploring mechanisms to better strengthen their relationship with top Japanese business people, politicians and officials through the newly created Japan-New Zealand Partnership Forum whose motto is "New Thinking - New Partnership." Furthermore, New Zealand Business and Industry Federation (NZBIF) chairman Graeme WELLINGTON 00000180 002.2 OF 003 Harrison, who also chairs Anzco Foods, confronted the claimed New Zealand threat to Japan's agriculture at celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of a Treaty of Commerce signed between the two countries. Said Harrison, "I know that some in Japan perceive NZ's agriculture as a threat but in reality our production systems are complementary and NZ plays a key role in ensuring food security and sustainable supply for Japanese consumers all year round." (Note: The NZBIF's brief is to maximize New Zealand's global competitive position and ensure NZ enterprises are fully integrated in the global economy. End note.) Trade Mission to South Korea -------------- ¶6. (U) PM Clark's delegation continued on to South Korea, where she met with newly-elected President Lee Myung-bak and senior Cabinet ministers on May 16. Ahead of her talks with President Lee, Clark spoke to a joint Korea, New Zealand, and Australia business function and met Korea's Minister for Tourism and Culture. Two-way trade between New Zealand and Korea is worth more than NZ$2.4 billion a year. Korea is New Zealand's sixth-largest export market; importing NZ$1.33 billion of goods and services from NZ in 2007. However, Korea has trade barriers hampering NZ exports with an average agriculture tariff rate of 52 percent. A study into the benefits of a possible FTA between the two countries found such an agreement would be worth NZ$4.5 billion to New Zealand over 20 years. New Zealand and Korea have already completed a trade study and Clark said, "negotiations were now a question of not if but when." ¶7. (U) Clark would not give a likely start date for negotiations, but said going by Korea's successful track record with Chile and the United States, once negotiations started they could move quickly. Trade Minister Phil Goff, who accompanied Clark on the Japan leg of the trip, said "free trade negotiations with Korea were now looking likely in the near future - we are moving in a very positive direction with Korea and I think it's now a matter of timing rather than if we have a free trade agreement." Goff did proffer that the timing would not be dealt with until later in the year, after the Korean parliament had ratified its free trade deal with the United States. In their closing declaration, Clark and Lee said they had also discussed ways to expand investment between the two countries, as well as greater co-operation in education, science and technology, agriculture and the film industry. Possible NZ-India FTA -------------- ¶8. (U) Briefing a group of Indian business representatives in Auckland on his recent visit to New Zealand, India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said that both countries are completing a feasibility study and developing a time frame to begin negotiations on an India-New Zealand free trade agreement by the end of 2008. He said there was scope for greater cooperation in a number of areas, including education, telecommunications, biotechnology and information technology. Commenting on the progress towards a bilateral FTA, New Zealand Trade Minister Phil Goff said, "with food shortages in key commodity areas like dairy around the world, including in India, now is a good time to address how we can cooperate more in trade in these areas." The present bilateral trade is NZ$630 million between New Zealand and India, but "there is a large untapped potential for increasing it," said Goff. He further declared, "there were still tariff and technical barriers for New Zealand agriculture products in India including sanitary and phyto-sanitary restrictions, besides the customs/tariff barriers." New Zealand Fears Regional Exclusion -------------- ¶9. (U) The unspoken behind-the-scene story to Clark's Japan and Korea trip is a growing concern that New Zealand is being left out of a historic regional integration process. The number of FTAs in the East Asia region has dramatically increased over the last four years. According to some estimates, there are now 20 major trade agreements in action in the East Asian area and at least another 35 under negotiation. Talk of superseding these bilateral agreements WELLINGTON 00000180 003.2 OF 003 with a massive multilateral trade pact covering the entire East Asian area has been mentioned. Japan is proposing at the nongovernmental level that Australia, New Zealand, and India be included in any such zone but some other Asian nations are reported to oppose the idea. Clark has stated her support for the Japanese position in the past and reiterated it when she met her Japanese and Korean counterparts. ¶10. (SBU) There is a risk that New Zealand (along with Australia and India) will not be invited to join the proposed major Asian trading pact irrespective of Japan's initiatives to widen it to include the trio of nations. To combat the threat of exclusion, New Zealand has focused mainly on advancing trade liberalization issues with the East Asian Summit (ASEAN plus Three) while quietly sending think-tank policy experts to consult with likeminded Japanese and Korean counterparts. The focus in both Japan and Korea talks has been on how to work together to get good results from the East Asian Summit (EAS) in December. To this end, Helen Clark has also reiterated New Zealand's desire for bilateral FTAs with Japan and Korea and for an Asia-wide pact based around the 16 member countries (ASEAN plus Three (China, Japan, S. Korea) plus New Zealand, Australia, India)of the EAS. Trade and Domestic Politics -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Trade policy is unlikely to be contentious as elections near, since the two dominant parties have publicly stated that New Zealand must pursue every available negotiating avenue, multilateral or bilateral, to open up greater opportunities for NZ exports. Both the Labour and National Parties supported the NZ-China FTA. If National unseats Labour, it is more likely to continue where Labour left off in trying to advance free trade agreements with Japan, South Korea and India. National MO Tim Groser has told us that his party supports free trade agreements with New Zealand's major trading partners, so there is little daylight between National and Labour on trade policy objectives. ¶12. (U) Other NZ political parties have yet to articulate positions on potential deals with Japan, South Korea and India, but there is likely to be some resistance from the minor parties. If Foreign Minister Winston Peters' New Zealand First Party, which opposed the NZ-China FTA on the grounds that trade deals with low wage economies threaten NZ businesses, follows similar logic then it is likely to oppose any deal with India (see Reftel). The Green Party is also likely to resist any deal with Japan as long its controversial whaling policy continues. Meanwhile the onus will be with the business consulting groups charged with preliminary feasibility studies to keep the FTA prospects alive until after the general election. ¶13. (SBU) Comment. With growing food shortages intensifying internationally and following the successful signing of the NZ-China FTA, New Zealand now sees itself as poised to enhance its business/trading relationship with Asia's dominate economies. A new found sense of optimism is running through both business and government circles, that formerly intractable trade barriers are now open to discussion and possible resolution. While the GNZ slips into caretaker mode as the general election approaches, it seems assured that whichever political party forms the next government, Labour or National, will take up the challenge of securing FTAs with Japan, South Korea and India following the election. End comment. MCCORMICK