Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will be closely watching tomorrow’s US election — and says it’s important New Zealand builds close ties with whoever wins, whether it’s Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump.
American voters will cast their final votes tomorrow.
Luxon said on Breakfast this morning: “I’m like everybody else, I can’t predict what the outcome will be.
“But what I can say is that we need to be able to work with whoever the American people pick as their president and that administration.
“When I was in the US in July for NATO, I actually spent quite a lot of time with senior congressmen, senators, and the leadership teams on both the Democrat side and the Republican side.
“As a small trading nation, we’ve got to be able to get on and build relationships and rapport with any administration — and that will be my job, to make sure we can advance New Zealand’s interests with the US regardless of who they pick.”
The Prime Minister wouldn’t be drawn into “speculation” when asked about the potential impact of any new tariffs, such as those campaigned on by Trump.
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“Look, it’s a big system, the American political system,” he said.
“Obviously it’s a federal system, you’ve got states, you’ve got the central government in Washington.
“I’ve lived there in North America for some time and what I’ve learnt is, it’s a very broad system and you actually need to have relationships at all levels across it and on all sides of the aisle,” Luxon continued.
For example, the US will “often” end up with its Senate and Congress being controlled by different parties, he said.
“You’ve actually got to work all angles of the US government.”
Pressed on whether planning to mitigate potential tariffs was underway, the Prime Minister said: “We work in a contingency environment with plan A, B and C all the time, with all of our relationships.
“All I’m saying is, look, we have a big ambition to double the value of our exports, trade’s very important.
“I appreciate there’s lots of reckons about what may or may not eventuate, under different leaders in the US, but let’s wait and see and let’s make sure we’re well positioned to position New Zealand really well to advance our interests.”
