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  1. Negotiations

New Zealand

New Zealand is a party to a number of completed free trade and investment agreements. These are: the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Agreement (1983); the New Zealand-Singapore Closer Economic Partnership (2001); the New Zealand-Thailand Closer Economic Partnership (2005); the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership or P4 (2005); the New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement (2008), the Australia-ASEAN-New Zealand free trade agreement (2009), the New Zealand-Malaysia FTA (2009),an FTA with the GCC, (2009) and the New Zealand-Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership (2010).

A New Zealand-India deal has been mooted. New Zealand’s government has indicated that it wants FTAs with Korea and Taiwan

While talk of a US-New Zealand FTA was hotly resisted and never got off the ground, partly because of New Zealand’s anti-nuclear policy, the expansion of what was initially called the P4 agreement to include the US (the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement) threatens to bring important changes to New Zealand policies.

New Zealand has also signed a number of IPPAs (bilateral investment treaties) with Chile, Argentina, Hong Kong, China and others.

last update: May 2012
Photo: NZ Free Trade Watch / Facebook

Latin America trade deal: NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hints at progress
3-Nov-2022 NZ Herald
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has hinted at progress in the Government’s longstanding efforts to negotiate a free trade agreement with the Pacific Alliance, a group comprising Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile.
Primary industry reps to visit India with hopes of trade deals}
13-Sep-2022 RNZ
Primary industry leaders will be among a trade delegation travelling to India to reignite business to business relationships.
Te Pāti Māori to oppose UK free trade deal
26-Jul-2022 Scoop
Te Pāti Māori will oppose the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill, a trade deal which shut Māori out of negotiations, and that fails to protect Māori rights and interests.
10 days for submissions on UK FTA a total farce
4-Mar-2022 Scoop
People have only ten days to make submissions on the 1700-page secretly negotiated free trade agreement between New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Behind the ‘inclusive’ window dressing, the NZ-UK free trade deal disappoints politically and economically
4-Mar-2022 The Conversation
The free trade agreement between New Zealand and the United Kingdom demonstrates the intransigence of political leaders and their official advisers in the face of concerted demands to rethink the country’s trade policy paradigm.
NZ UK FTA “inclusive trade” agenda does nothing to redress failed free trade model
1-Mar-2022 Scoop
Professor Kelsey repeated the calls for a comprehensive rethink of this model of free trade agreements to confront the social, environmental and economic challenges of the 21st century.
NZ-UK free trade agreement: “a missed opportunity”
1-Mar-2022 Scoop
The announcement of the free trade agreement with the United Kingdom was described by Pita Tipene as “a missed opportunity to set a new bar for honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi”.
FTA with UK: Dairy and meat exporters thrilled, but academic criticises deal
1-Mar-2022 RNZ
New Zealand’s key export sectors are lauding a new free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom, while it has received stiff criticism from one academic who said it was "hardly an economic bonanza".
Minister to complete final steps of UK trade deal negotiations
25-Feb-2022 1News
Trade Minister Damien O’Connor is setting off for a trade visit to Europe and the Middle East, with hopes to finalise the UK free trade agreement and to progress on a deal with the EU.
New US Ambassador to NZ Tom Udall has free trade agreement on his radar
2-Dec-2021 Newshub
The United States’ brand new Ambassador to New Zealand is making encouraging noises that a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US could finally happen.

    Links

  • New Zealand FTAs
    Government of NZ’ page on FTAs
  • Our World Is Not For Sale (New Zealand)
    The OUR WORLD IS NOT FOR SALE campaign was formed around building the protests at the September 2007 US-NZ Partnership Forum, the global justice campaign aims to build public support and organisation against the signing of any form of free trade agreement between the United States and New Zealand.