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Trump flirted with the idea of abandoning the rules of the World Trade Organization to allow it to have tighter control over trade policy.
NOTICE: I am writing this column under the shadow of an imminent and uncertain United States and China trade war
The economies of the Asia-Pacific are struggling with the possible ramifications. Some (like South Korea and Taiwan) worry about the technological components that they sell to China for the finished products. Other actors could benefit by filling some of the expected supply gaps
Also in the news in recent days: Trump has flirted with the idea of giving up the rules of the day. ##################################################################################### 39 World Trade Organization to enable it to better control trade policy
Already, the Trump administration has threatened the WTO dispute settlement system by preventing the filling of vacancies in the WTO. 39 Appellate Body, which serves as the judicial system for the world trade rules of the WTO. This means that the dispute resolution body could stop operating next year because it lacks judges
READ MORE: Donald Trump's Rates: What's Up? 39 They Are and How They Will Work
New Zealanders, the WTO may seem like some sort of esoteric thing – a group of bureaucrats sitting in offices in Geneva.
But because these are the business pages, we need to think about what this means for New Zealand and international exporters. traders when an institution that is part of the rules-based international order is threatened like this.
After all, our apples would not be in Australia without the WTO dispute settlement system and our meat would not be in South Korea. New Zealand has brought eight WTO disputes as the lead complainant, including for access to butter to European countries in the 1990s and, more recently, for beef exports to the United States. # 39; Indonesia. New Zealand has also been involved in more than 40 third party disputes over complaints from other members, a process that has benefited our exporters.
Imagine the uncertainty if we could not apply the rule of law when we came up against another unfair trade barrier. This would not only affect the conflicts that would have occurred; this would affect the entire trading system if there was no definitive, fair and binding settlement process. So, we need to pay attention to these threats to the systems we have taken for granted. And New Zealand companies need to support the government in protecting these systems because they count …
Simon Draper: The apples of New Zealand would not be in Australia without the WTO dispute settlement system, and our beef would not be in Korea from South.
In recent years, New Zealand has been described as having a favorable international environment; yet, we are now in a part of the world that is disputed between the two great economic and military powers of the time – China and the United States.
And the international standards on which we have been relying for decades are under tension. New Zealand is a founding member of the UN, the WTO and the OECD. Other relevant acronyms for our region (such as ASEAN, APEC and EAS) are also important to us since they put great powers and we in the same piece. Many of these institutions must undoubtedly update themselves to face changing realities – for example, digital commerce, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology. But that does not mean that they are irrelevant.
The question is, of course, to know what we are doing. We can look passively, or – as New Zealand wants – try to be smart and to exert a positive influence.
New Zealand turns to "like-minded" countries facing the challenges of the region. Although historically this may have meant liberal values and an open economy, it will mean more and more countries with similar concerns to us – for example, those who have to navigate Chinese and American relations quite thoughtfully .
when our relationship with Asian countries will mean more than exports. They have more experience in managing tensions between the great powers than New Zealand, and have felt these battles more intensely. The ASEAN countries have had to navigate changing power dynamics for a few decades, and we can learn from them. We already have a good structure in place to allow this through our existing partnership partnership forum with ASEAN and Australia, and it is good to see the government invest more in this.
These are interesting moments. We all have an interest in the systems (commercial or otherwise) that have developed internationally over the decades. The borrowing sentiment of the 18th century philosopher Edmund Burke (who said, "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"), the only thing necessary for us to lose the system does nothing
Simon Draper is Executive Director of the Asia-New Zealand Foundation
– Stuff
