{"id":25155,"date":"2017-01-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/us-veto-puts-kybosh-on-asia-deals\/"},"modified":"2017-01-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T11:00:00","slug":"us-veto-puts-kybosh-on-asia-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/us-veto-puts-kybosh-on-asia-deals\/","title":{"rendered":"US veto puts kybosh on Asia deals"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Ironically, the lost opportunity from President Donald Trump\u2019s veto of the TPP lay mostly outside the US, where cattle farmers were NZ\u2019s allies in its push for free trade.<\/p>\n

That veto was disappointing for sheep and beef farmers because without the US the TPP as drafted could not take effect, which was a significant blow for trade liberalisation in the Asia-Pacific region in the short term.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s executive order also prohibited the US from participating in any further negotiation of TPP and required that the US pull away from multilateral negotiations in favour of bilateral agreements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis effectively puts paid to hopes that the US might re-commit to TPP if it could secure more favourable terms through further TPP talks,\u201d Parsons said.<\/p>\n

\u201dIronically, the lost opportunity to our sector from President Trump\u2019s decision mostly lies outside of the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cTPP would have had only a relatively minor, positive impact on our trade with the US due to existing low tariff rates faced by NZ beef and lamb in that market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real value of TPP to our sector was in reducing tariffs and creating a level playing field in high-value Asia Pacific markets, Japan in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Japan-Australia free-trade agreement meant Australian beef entering Japan enjoyed a tariff rate 10 percentage points lower than that faced by competitors such as NZ and the US so in 2015 and 2016 Australian beef exports to Japan increased by 13% while those from NZ and the US fell by 10% and 11% respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that in the short to medium term NZ will struggle to complete a bilateral free-trade agreement with Japan to achieve a level playing field on beef.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur competitiveness in that market and our resulting market share will continue to be affected for some time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While that was a major setback there remained a number of possibilities for multilateral free-trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe remaining TPP parties may revise their agreement to remove US concessions and press on with an agreement as a way to show trade leadership in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which is under negotiation and includes, among others, NZ alongside ASEAN countries China, India and Japan, also provides an opportunity to free up access and establish common trading rules in the Asian region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the coming weeks and months B+LNZ would continue to work alongside the Government and other industry groups as they came to terms with the setback and worked through continuing to press for trade liberalisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecisions in the US and Europe over the past 12 months have added a lot of uncertainty to how to progress this agenda, but it is critical that we as an export sector continue to keep the pressure up,\u201d Parsons said.<\/p>\n

In the next fortnight B+LNZ directors Andrew Morrison and George Tatham would go to the US on previously-arranged visits as part of ongoing work to maintain the very strong producer relationships the industry-good body had in that key market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will provide an opportunity to hear directly from US ranchers their take on President Trump\u2019s decision and where the US is likely to head next.<\/p>\n

Parsons said NZ was fortunate US beef producers were allies on free trade and quoted National Cattlemen\u2019s Beef Association president Tracy Brunner who said \u201cThe fact remains that 96% of the world\u2019s consumers live outside the US and expanding access to those consumers is the single best thing we can do to help American cattle-producing families be more successful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand will struggle to gain trade deal with Japan in the medium to long term as a result of the United States\u2019 withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership, Beef + Lamb NZ chairman James Parsons says.\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t