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After 18 years at forestry giant Weyerhaeuser, Lafayette Trustee Fred Benson III '59 left his position last year as vice president of federal and international affairs to become president of the United States-New Zealand Council. Much of Benson's work in the last five years of his job at Weyerhaeuser involved various forestry investments around the world. “Having spent considerable time in New Zealand, when this opportunity arose, it was a natural fit for this phase of my career,” he says.
Founded in 1986, US-NZ Council is a private, nonprofit consortium of U.S corporations with a business interest and/or presence in New Zealand and New Zealand companies seeking to expand markets in the U.S. “Working together, we are attempting to enhance the political and economic relationship between the two countries with an eye toward consummating a Free Trade Agreement within the next two years,” says Benson. “Such an agreement would remove all tariff and non-tariff barriers and increase trading opportunities significantly for both parties.”
The job became more challenging when President George Bush decided to impose tariffs on most steel imports. Although the move clouds the environment for trade talks, Benson is confident that the “overwhelming support” for an agreement will be sustained in spite of the decision.
Benson has traveled to New Zealand to spread the message that to secure a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, the country needs to join with Australia to work together as one economy. “Both Australia and New Zealand are proceeding on parallel, but separate tracks for bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the U.S.,” he explains. “Most participants, however, would expect that at the end of the process, these two separate paths would have merged into one trilateral Free Trade Agreement.”
Before commencing his private sector career, Benson served in the U.S. Army, retiring as one of the youngest colonels on active duty. His responsibilities included senior positions in the offices of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Army as well as aviation and ground command assignments in Korea, Vietnam, and Alaska. He holds several awards and decorations, including two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, and 17 Air Medals.
A former White House Fellow, Benson has served as a member of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships through the terms of Presidents Bush and Clinton. He has also served as founding chair of the Annapolis Institute, and chair of the advisory committee at historic Mount Vernon. Benson earned postgraduate degrees from Auburn University and attended the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program (AMP).
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark (left) talks with Fred Benson '59 about free trade at a conference in Auckland, NZ on a free trade agreement between the two countries in Dec. 2001.