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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade invited submissions on negotiations between the members of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (the Trans-Pacific Agreement, also known as P4) and the United States.
The closing date for submissions was Monday 8 December 2008.
The Trans-Pacific Agreement between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore is the first multi-party Free Trade Agreement linking Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. Its members are also members of APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation).
The Trans-Pacific Agreement is open to new membership, particularly from economies in the Asia Pacific Region. It was recently announced that the United States will begin negotiations to join the Agreement.
The Trans-Pacific Agreement liberalises and facilitates trade in goods and services and aims to improve the business environment and promote cooperation on a broad range of economic areas of mutual interest to its members.
The Agreement includes provisions on market access and related rules (including customs procedures, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and trade remedies) for goods trade; trade in services; intellectual property; government procurement; competition policy; and dispute settlement. All Trans-Pacific members are also party to an Environment Cooperation Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Labour Cooperation.
The United States announced in February 2008 that it would join upcoming Trans-Pacific Agreement negotiations on investment and financial services and at the same time begin a detailed exploratory process to determine whether it should participate in the full Trans-Pacific Agreement. The Trans-Pacific negotiations on investment and financial services had been scheduled to take place at that time. Three rounds of negotiations on investment and financial services involving the Trans-Pacific Partners and the United States have been held, in March, June and September 2008.
On 22 September 2008, the United States and the Trans-Pacific Partners announced the launch of negotiations for the United States to join the comprehensive Trans-Pacific Agreement.
The Asia-Pacific region is a key driver of global economic growth, representing nearly 60 percent of global GDP and roughly 50 percent of international trade. The average GDP growth rate in the rapidly growing and dynamic countries in this region was 5.1 percent in 2006, compared with the world average of 3.9 percent. Since 1990, total goods trade by the Asia-Pacific economies has increased by 300 percent, while global investment in the region has increased by over 400 percent.
The United States is the world’s largest economy, with over 270 million consumers with a very high average income. The US is New Zealand's second largest individual export destination, third largest source of imports, and a major source of foreign direct investment and inbound tourism.
Significant commercial and strategic benefits will accrue to members of the Trans-Pacific Agreement, both in the shorter term through the elimination of trade barriers, and exponentially well into the future through the increased productivity and growth that will result from regional liberalisation. The Trans-Pacific Agreement promotes the APEC goal of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. The Trans-Pacific Agreement is one potential way to build towards a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP).
Liberalisation of trade through the WTO is New Zealand’s most important international trade policy priority, and the US is an important partner in that process. The Trans-Pacific Agreement is a high-standard, comprehensive agreement and is WTO consistent. The promotion of increased trade liberalisation through the Trans-Pacific Agreement supports continued ambition in the Doha Round. The “Doha plus” gains from a high quality regional trade liberalisation initiative such as the Trans-Pacific Agreement accrue in addition to the positive results being sought through the WTO Doha Round.top of page
The United States is a major trade and economic partner for New Zealand.
The United States is New Zealand's second largest individual export destination. In the year to June 2008, New Zealand exported NZ$4.02 billion worth of merchandise to the US, accounting for 10 percent of total New Zealand exports. New Zealand’s top three exports to the US were beef, dairy and wood products. Over the same period New Zealand imported NZ$4.12 billion worth of merchandise from the US, accounting for 9.3 percent of total imports. In that period, aircraft were our top import from the US, followed by motor vehicles, medical or veterinary instruments, aircraft parts and computers.
The US is also New Zealand’s third largest source of overseas visitors, after Australia and the United Kingdom. In the year to March 2008, there were 222,757 US visitors to New Zealand. Short-term US visitors spent NZ$627 million in New Zealand in the year to March 2008, making the US the third largest source of tourist expenditure.
New Zealand and the US have a well-founded investment partnership. The US is New Zealand's second largest source and destination of Foreign Direct Investment (after Australia). In March 2007, US investment in New Zealand totalled NZ$41.5 billion (16.3 percent of total foreign investment in New Zealand). New Zealand investment in the US totalled NZ$26.5 billion (23.9 percent of total overseas investment). Portfolio investment accounts for a large proportion of this investment. Our outward foreign direct investment into the US was estimated at around NZ$1.8 billion (9.5 percent of total outward FDI) in March 2007. The US is estimated as contributing NZ$ 10.5 billion inward FDI (11.6 percent of the total).
For further information on New Zealand/US trade, see the Country Information Paper for the United States more
The negotiations are expected to cover the Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures, Trade Remedies, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Competition Policy, Intellectual Property, Government Procurement, Trade in Services (including Financial Services), Electronic Commerce, Investment, Environment and Labour, along with dispute settlement and strategic cooperation between the Parties.
View the text of the current Trans-Pacific Agreement and a guide to the Agreement more
As New Zealand enters the negotiations it is important that negotiators know and understand the views and interests of New Zealanders. Investors, exporters and importers of goods and services, non-government organisations and individuals are invited to make submissions. The submissions will help shape New Zealand’s negotiating mandate for the negotiations. Negotiators will follow-up submissions with direct contact, if necessary. The public consultation process is an ongoing one that will provide further opportunities for input and comment on the negotiation.
The Government has made earlier calls for public submissions from businesses and other groups during the original negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Agreement and in respect of the investment and financial services negotiations which have been underway since March. Negotiators would now like to receive public submissions from those with an interest in trade with the United States.
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