Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Christie begins U.K. trade mission

LONDON - Gov. Christie on Sunday begins a three-day state trade mission to the United Kingdom, where he will meet with Prime Minister David Cameron during a trip that will play out against the backdrop of an anticipated presidential campaign.

LONDON - Gov. Christie on Sunday begins a three-day state trade mission to the United Kingdom, where he will meet with Prime Minister David Cameron during a trip that will play out against the backdrop of an anticipated presidential campaign.

The Republican governor is traveling to London and Cambridge to build up business and cultural ties with one of New Jersey's strongest trade partners, according to his office.

That focus is similar to trade missions Christie led to Mexico in September and Canada in December, though in the United Kingdom, Christie will pay specific attention to the life sciences and financial industries.

Much of the attention will be on Christie himself, who last week announced a political action committee that could help lay groundwork for a 2016 run. This month, the governor plans to attend political events in a number of states, including Iowa and New Hampshire.

The London trip offers "an opportunity for voters to see the governor on the international stage," said Kevin Madden, a former spokesman for 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. "That may give folks a sense of his potential as a future president."

It also presents political risk: A 2012 London trip by Romney was remembered for his questioning Britain's readiness to host the Olympics.

On Sunday in London, Christie, an avid sports fan, is expected to attend an Arsenal match in the English Premier League.

Christie's office said the governor would participate in a life-sciences roundtable and tour a pharmaceutical facility in Cambridge on Monday. In London, Christie is expected to meet with Cameron and to dine with the prime minister's cabinet.

On Tuesday, the governor, who has advocated addiction services in New Jersey, will visit Hope House, an addiction treatment center for women founded by the royal family. Christie's office said he wanted to show appreciation for Prince Harry's tour of hurricane-damaged Shore towns in May 2013.

Christie also will attend a rehearsal of Shakespeare's Henry V.

Traveling with Christie will be his wife, Mary Pat; Rutgers University president Robert Barchi; Richard Bagger, senior vice president of Celgene Corp., a pharmaceutical company in Summit, N.J.; longtime Christie ally Michele Brown, departing chief of the state Economic Development Authority and incoming CEO of the nonprofit sponsoring the trip; and the U.K.'s deputy consul general in New York, Nick Astbury.

Choose New Jersey, a nonprofit economic development group backed by businesses, will pay for part of the trip, spokeswoman Jenn Kramer said.

A Christie spokesman said the state would cover the governor's security costs. The state has not disclosed its costs from the Mexico or Canada trips, which also were sponsored by Choose New Jersey. The group's costs from those trips are "not yet available," Kramer said.

In 2012, a trade mission Christie led to Israel reportedly cost taxpayers $40,000 for security. Choose New Jersey listed $53,000 in travel expenses for public officials that year, according to a recently revised IRS filing. The group did not respond to a question about costs specific to the Israel trip.

The United Kingdom is the Garden State's third-largest trading partner, after Mexico and Canada, with $7 billion in annual trade, Christie said in a conference call Friday. More than 180 New Jersey companies have operations in the U.K., including the pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson and Merck.

More than 130 U.K. companies operate in New Jersey, including the oil behemoth BP and HSBC bank, Christie said.

Governors conducting trade missions abroad on the dime of business groups has become "the standard package," said Jock O'Connell, an international trade economist in Sacramento, Calif.

"I begin with a little bit of skepticism about these things," said O'Connell, a former consultant to the State of California. "If they are genuinely helpful to the state's economy, the taxpayers ought to pay for it."

State trade missions - though "usually theatrical trips" - can be useful when the goals are clear, O'Connell said, calling the plan for Christie's trip to target the life-sciences and financial industries "more focused than some."

"These types of exchanges are potentially beneficial but exceedingly difficult to quantify," O'Connell said.

Kramer, the Choose New Jersey spokeswoman, said there had been "lots of good meetings and excitement and leads" resulting from the group's recent international trips, including to Mexico and Canada.

"But as you can imagine, these things can take years to materialize," she said. "It's more of a marathon than a sprint."

Choose New Jersey was established in 2010, after Christie's election. "This was his and his transition team's vision," said Vincent Maione, president of Atlantic City Electric and a founding member of the Choose New Jersey board.

Maione is one of 19 business and labor leaders in the state who serve on the board; other companies represented include the Public Service Enterprise Group, Novartis, and PNC Bank. Board members have supported the group with $12 million over five years.

"The whole premise is creating economic development and opportunities for the entire state," said Maione, who has not participated in the trips. "When any part of the state grows and people are attracted and looking for serious opportunities to grow, stay, or expand, I think we all benefit."

London recently has had its share of visiting potential Republican presidential candidates. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry was there in October, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal visited last month. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will lead a state trade mission just after Christie's.

Being able to refer to international travels and meetings with foreign leaders can bolster a presidential candidate, including during debates, said Republican strategist Dave Carney, who advised Perry's 2012 presidential campaign.

And to wealthy donors who bankroll campaigns, Carney said, "it does have a tremendous impact on your credibility and what the elite think about it."

INSIDE

Is Christie helping or hurting Atlantic City? Business, D1.EndText