- 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
11-Jan-2006
A senior United States Senator, John McCain says New Zealand’s nuclear free policy should not affect the country’s chances of securing a free trade deal with the US.
3-Nov-2005
Yonhap
New Zealand will pursue talks for free trade and a deal for joint film production with South Korea when their government officials meet during the APEC forum in Busan next month.
25-Oct-2005
Scoop
Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce President Simon Arnold and his counterpart from the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry last week signed an agreement committing both Chambers to promote to their respective Governments the advantages of an FTA between Korea and New Zealand.
25-Oct-2005
stuff
A US-New Zealand FTA remains the ultimate prize.
2-Sep-2005
The Prime Minister appears prepared to let the Green party vote against trade treaties if it goes into coalition with Labour.
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.
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.
