Fiji eyes regional partnerships to boost US trade talks

Fiji is looking to strengthen its negotiating position with the United States through regional partnerships under the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) umbrella.

This is according to the country’s ambassador to the United States Ratu Ilisoni Vuidreketi.

The ambassador acknowledged Fiji had “very limited bargaining power” in ongoing tariff negotiations with the world’s largest economy.

“Like any other Pacific small island developing state, Fiji has very limited bargaining power, especially relative to the US,” Ratu Ilisoni told the Fiji Sun yesterday.

“Any small leverage Fiji may have could also be through strategic alignments and regional partnerships, for example, in collaboration with and under the umbrella of the Pacific Islands Forum.”

The ambassador said talks on US tariffs and policy development were ongoing and could “change rapidly

“Progress typically involves ongoing negotiations, tariff rate schedules and potential sector-specific discussions,” Ratu Ilisoni said.

He said the mbassy’s role was “primarily advocacy and liaison” as the main diplomatic channel to convey the country’s interests to the US Government.

Ratu Ilisoni identified Fiji’s small market size as the country’s biggest challenge in negotiations.

“The tiny scale of Fiji’s economy and export base makes it comparatively vulnerable to tariff changes and less able to absorb disruption in comparison to other larger countries,” he said.

He noted that beyond Fiji Water, the country’s main exports were agriculture and seafood products with variable compliance costs and quality standards.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently took over responsibility for negotiating U.S tariff reductions after former Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica secured a reduction from 32 per cent to 15 per cent last August.