- Negotiations
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
10-Nov-2008
Free trade talks with the United States are likely to go on the back-burner as United States president-elect Barak Obama focuses on the global financial crisis, some southern business leaders believed.
7-Nov-2008
Two senior politicians with unique insights into New Zealand’s relationship with the United States are both hopeful the election of Barack Obama as President will not hurt the chances of a potentially lucrative trade deal.
5-Nov-2008
US President-elect Barack Obama has acknowledged his government faces huge economic challenges and more tough times ahead.
5-Nov-2008
New Zealand’s free trade talks with the United States should still be on the agenda early next year, even though president-elect Barack Obama is less of a trade liberal than John McCain.
14-Oct-2008
NBR
New Zealand government representatives are still pushing for some form of free-trade agreement with Japan.
9-Oct-2008
RNZ
The New Zealand defence industry is renewing calls for a free trade agreement with the United States, which would allow New Zealand companies to compete for a slice of US military contracts.
22-Sep-2008
Scoop
The New Zealand Alliance Party says a proposed new free trade deal with the USA is a race to the bottom that will be great for big business and terrible for workers. The party’s trade spokesperson Victor Billot says any free trade deal is coming at a strange time as the global financial system teeters on the edge of collapse and Fonterra’s venture into China has ended in disaster.
8-Sep-2008
NZPA
Negotiations to secure a free trade agreement (FTA) with Malaysia will resume next week, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said today.
26-Aug-2008
NBR
New Zealand companies should take advantage of Mexico’s free trade agreement with the United States and look at entering the lucrative US market via its neighbour, a visiting trade representative says.
7-Aug-2008
NZBR
The United States’ dairy sector is looming as a major stumbling block for any New Zealand-USA free trade agreement as American farm lobbyists worry that NZ dairy exports could flood their domestic market.
Links
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Government of NZ’ page on FTAs
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Māori collective that aims to advance and protect Māori interests in the trade space.
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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.
