NZ Gets Back On The Obama Administration’s Radar
March 26th, 2009
Murray McCully, already acquiring a formidable reputation as a skilled operator in the foreign affair portfolio (he has succeeded with his recent visits to Samoa and the Cook Islands in rebuilding the close ties with those small but influential South Pacific states), has the task of getting NZ firmly on to the radar of the new administration in Washington. He had not been planning to visit the US until later in the year, but the fact he was invited to chair a session of the Ministerial meeting hosted by Secretary of State Clinton to mark 50 years of the Antarctic Treaty opened the door for a full bilateral with her, on April 7.
This will be the first substantive engagement between the new Govts, and McCully sees it as providing an opportunity to bring “fresh eyes and fresh energy to the relationship.” McCully will be making it clear to Clinton it is not helpful if NZ doesn’t get some progress on trade.
He will be pointing out NZ has negotiated a comprehensive FTA with China, is now working on similar FTAs with India and Korea, and it doesn’t make sense for the US not to go ahead with joining what was originally the P4 pact and is now the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). McCully will argue trade must be part of the solution to global economic recovery, and US participation and leadership (in the TPP) is critical to its success.
The US has asked for a delay in the first round of negotiations, and McCully says he understands this but he will emphasise how important the TPP could become as the Asia-Pacific region becomes the engine for world economic growth. McCully may take a cautious line when the discussion moves on to Afghanistan. It is likely his response if the US asks NZ to do more, will be to underline NZ is already heavily committed in Afghanistan and closer to home in Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands.
ON THE RADAR
• McCully set to reignite NZ-US relations.
• Key issue will be free trade.
• Afghanistan likely to be a sticking point.
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Duncan Cotterill