Are free trade pacts delivering the goods?

Expert questions allocation of limited resources AS THE SA Customs Union (Sacu) moves ahead with negotiations for free trade agreements with an ever-increasing list of countries, the importance of these pacts has been questioned. “SACU is pursuing a very active free trade agenda,” says Niel Joubert, a researcher at the Trade Law Association of southern Africa. “It is currently involved in negotiations with the US, EFTA and MERCOSUR and it recently launched talks with India, China and Nigeria.” The agreement with EFTA, the European Free Trade Association comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, is expected to be concluded shortly. The US talks, he says, kicked off on a high note, but have now almost ground to a halt over a disagreement between the parties on the substantive issues to be covered by the agreement. “While the MERCOSUR negotiations have started very slowly, we have seen substantial progress over the past few months,” he added. But many stakeholders, especially the private sector within Sacu, are now questioning the importance of these free trade pacts with countries like India that have not historically been big trading partners of Sacu, says Joubert. The question he poses is: “Should we be focusing our limited resources on countries like China with whom we already have high trade volumes or should we see these free trade agreements as a way to increase trade with other countries in a balanced and equitable way?”