Shockwaves fray export links with US

By STAFF REPORTERS

Dozens of New Zealand businesses with links to the United States are bracing themselves for disruption over the next few days, amid concerns world trade could yet take a heavy knock.

As the United States Government diverted all air traffic in the wake of the country's worst terrorist attack, local trade bosses were assessing the likely impact on the US export market.

New Zealand exports to the US totalled $4.5 billion for the year ended June, making it our second biggest trading partner.

Air services to the US are not expected to return to normal until at least Sunday, and some shipping routes have also been disrupted.

Trade New Zealand's senior trade commissioner for North America, Arama Kukutai, said he expected the backlog would take time to clear.

"Trade over the Canadian border alone is around $US1 billion ($2.3 billion) a day.

"There will be a significant flow-on effect."

More important, said Mr Kukutai, would be the longer-term impact on trade. He said several clients who had planned trade-related trips to the US were postponing their plans.

Seafood exporter Sanford managed to get an air-freighted container of fish into the US, but chief executive Eric Barrett said he would be reviewing whether the daily export schedule could be maintained.

Hawkes Bay meat company Richmond was also hoping to reschedule flights for several tonnes of chilled venison due to fly to the US.

"It's certainly very early to say if there will be any effect on consumption," said venison marketing manager Nick Sherwood.

"Certainly there is talk it could trigger a bit of a recession within the US and therefore some other countries could take their lead from that, but it's purely speculation at this point."

Last night, Trade New Zealand confirmed that no New Zealand businesses were based in the World Trade Center or offices surrounding the downtown Manhattan landmark but in Washington DC, Trade New Zealand's staff of three were evacuated from their office.

In Auckland, the American Chamber of Commerce, which promotes trade between the US and New Zealand, was flat out fielding phone calls. Executive director Mike Hearn said the chamber expected to have a strategy in place today, after spending most of yesterday gathering information.

"There's a fair number of our members obviously affected who were in the building, so we're just trying to piece information together."

The chamber has about 300 members in New Zealand, representing about 150 American companies.

One American firm that stepped up its security yesterday was American Express. Spokesman Ray Smith said the company had helped several cardholders wanting to know emergency numbers.

"Because we're an American company, we put extra security throughout all our premises and that's just as a matter of course when anything like this happens."

In Wellington, around 200 staff at Colgate-Palmolive in Petone were led in prayer by a local chaplain.

The company's US headquarters is about 5km from the World Trade Center but managing director Mary Beth Rowbleth said staff had been assured no one had been hurt and business had not been affected.

Ms Rowbleth, an American who has been living in New Zealand for four years, said she and other American expatriates in the company had been overwhelmed by the support from staff and their spouses.

The company had been well prepared for such an emergency, due to its planning for the Y2K bug.

"Y2K was actually a wonderful process for companies to develop procedures for emergency situations and it really came in handy because companies right around the world now know how to contact staff within hours."

New Zealand employees of global insurance and investment company Marsh were less fortunate.

Marsh's chief executive, Bob Giboney, said the company, which had 1500 people spread between the two towers of the World Trade Center, had accounted for only 500 employees by midday yesterday.

He feared the worst for many of those unaccounted for.

"Knowing New York and knowing our businesses, by 9 o'clock in the morning the majority of our colleagues would have been in the office."

Because Marsh's global IT infrastructure was run from the World Trade Center, communications with the New Zealand offices had been largely wiped out.

Mr Giboney said many of the company's 200 New Zealand-based employees had personal relationships with those based in the towers, dealing with them every day.

Paul Sapsford, a director of Christchurch-based Ecoglo, which makes photo-luminescent "way-finding" products for stadiums and other public venues, told the Herald from Miami yesterday that doing business long term in the United States had suddenly taken on an alarming new dimension.

"There's always a certain amount of perceived danger that comes with getting on an aeroplane, but this has suddenly turned what for me is a normal business practice into something that has potentially terrifying consequences."

Full coverage: Terror in America

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Emergency telephone numbers for friends and family of victims

These numbers are valid for calls from within New Zealand, but may be overloaded at the moment.

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: 0800 872 111

US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068

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