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A senior United States diplomat is being tight-lipped about the prospects of New Zealand ever getting to the trade talks table with the world's largest economy.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told TVNZ's Q&A programme that it had other bilateral trade deals to clear up before it thought about any new one-to-one trade negotiations.
Asked about the prospects, Campbell said: "One of the most important things for the United States to do is to deal with the free trade agreements that are still... (on the table) before we think about anything new".
The US is trying to finalise deals with a number of countries including Colombia and South Korea.
The previous US administration had agreed to formal talks on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade proposal involving eight countries, including the United States and New Zealand.
This was intended to build on the P4 agreement trans-Pacific trade pact between New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei.
The new administration effectively froze the trade talks when it announced a review on trade policy.
Campbell said he could not talk about this as President Barack Obama was going to articulate the US regional policy at the upcoming Apec meeting in Singapore, and this would include the TPP.
"The US will articulate a clear strategy about how it wants to proceed on economic and trade issues, and there is an expectation in the region that the US will continue to lead on these issues."
Also during the interview Campbell:
- Repeated statements that the US was looking at ways of
training more with New Zealand troops;
- Emphasised appreciation for New Zealand support in a number of
arenas including Afghanistan
- Praised the SAS;
- Said New Zealand's nuclear free stance was not a positive in the
relationship but "some political issues are best left in the
1980s"; and
- Emphasised President Obama's interest in Asia and the
Pacific.
