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Ryan Bridge: How are the India FTA talks going? · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So we've got a fifth round of talks with India
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: on a free trade deal. We've got a senior government
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: minister in town. He's brought forty two of his mates over.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: This is a good sign of good progress. But dairy farmers,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: if you're hoping for a pot of gold at the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: end of this rainbow, I don't think it's going to happen. Unfortunately,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: McLay and Luxon promised a deal by the election. Sounds
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: like they're on track to achieve that. But it's a
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: deal worth the paper it's written on if it doesn't
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: unlocked tower free access for milk powder. It's our major
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: commodity we sell to the rest of the world. One
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of the reasons Fonterra is the cat that got the
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: cream right now. We all know this, but in their haste,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: their eagerness, these ministers are going for quick and dirty
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: over comprehensive and all encompassing, which begs the question would
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: a deal look good for the government without dairy in
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: it or would you look a bit dumb because you
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: rushed it. You're rushed in to buy something, you know,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: buy a car without actually having an engine in it
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: and checking first. Here's what I don't think it will
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: include dairy. India is the world's largest consumer of derry.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Did you know that it meets its own demand domestically,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: albeit with much higher emissions. They wouldn't like that At
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: copp and Brazil. They don't want to be import derry.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: It's have made that very clear time and again. They
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: have ambitions to be a major dairy exporter of their
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: own in the future. The Brits got a deal disappointed
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: farmers there because why it excluded dairy? You fed farmers
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Scotland put out a press release at the time saying,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: you know it was a sour deal. They're upset about it.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: You can probably expect the same reaction here when a
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: deal is done without our big money spin it included.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Even our treasury says dairy probably ain't gonna happen. I
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: asked Myles Hurl about this a few months ago. He
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: was realistic, basically said, don't think we'll get it across
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the line. If we do, it'll be invaluable. Of course,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: it would growth and global dairy consumption expected to be
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: largely driven out of India and Pakistan. To miss this
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: boat would be disappointing. They could include some nothing clause
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: about wanting to open it up in the future, but
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: there'd be no guarantee of that. And we have learned
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: this lesson from the Brits who've just been through this process,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: which doesn't make this a deal not worth signing, don't
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: get me wrong, but the speed at which it's being
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: done could actually hurt Luxon's self described business negotiation skills
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: if expectations aren't properly managed. For more from Early edition
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talk Set B
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.