- 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
23-Aug-2005
The first member of President George W. Bush’s Cabinet to visit New Zealand has a positive message to take back to his Washington boss. Mike Johanns - appointed Agriculture Secretary earlier this year - was impressed by just how "New Zealand, to the person that I’ve talked to, is pro-trade".
23-Aug-2005
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said on Tuesday that a free trade agreement with New Zealand was not on the Bush administration’s agenda, but remains a possibility in the future.
2-Aug-2005
A free trade agreement with Malaysia is just around the corner and businesses should begin preparing to take advantage of the opportunities it will bring, according to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) Kuala Lumpur Trade Commissioner Jeff Shepherd.
25-Apr-2005
Last week saw both the signing of a Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and Thailand and another round of negotiations with Chile and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership, (P-3) probably now ’successfully’ concluded. "Yet few New Zealanders know about these agreements and their negative implications for many of the worst off citizens in all the countries involved", says the Action Research and Education Network of Aotearoa (ARENA).
31-Mar-2005
Scoop
Prime Minister Helen Clark announced today that Malaysia and New Zealand have agreed to begin negotiations on a free trade agreement as soon as possible.
12-Mar-2005
New Zealand’s free trade agreement with Thailand, which is due to come into effect on July 1, has no commitments to liberalize trade in services. It only requires the parties to begin negotiations within three years.
24-Feb-2005
NBR
The American Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand said today it would take the case for opening free trade negotiations direct to Washington.
19-Feb-2005
New Zealand Trade Minister Jim Sutton yesterday welcomed a push by a group of United States politicians for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
8-Feb-2005
As tipped by Korea’s Yonhap News two weeks ago, the top group representing US manufacturers, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), has called for a free trade agreement with New Zealand.
1-Feb-2005
The Prime Minister says New Zealand is well down the track in negotiations with Chile and Singapore on a three-way free trade and investment agreement.
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.
