International trade has been upended by United States President Donald Trump who announced sweeping tariffs last week on dozens of countries, which were met by retaliatory tariffs by many of them, triggering massive volatility in markets.
In a stunning reversal, Trump said today he would temporarily suspend the hefty tariffs he had imposed on most countries for 90 days, but has put more on China.
Luxon said he would be speaking with world leaders later today to compare notes on global trade and test what they can do together to buttress the rules-based trading system.
A spokesperson could not give any details on which leaders Luxon would be talking to or when the call or calls would take place.
New Zealand would continue to work with like-minded countries to promote free trade as a path to prosperity and explore the role of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in strengthening that vision, Luxon said in a speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce today.
“One possibility is that members of the CPTPP and the European Union work together to champion rules-based trade and make specific commitments on how that support plays out in practice,” he said in a speech.
Luxon added he was heading to the United Kingdom later this month to meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, to talk trade, security and the geopolitical.
“We can’t make the case for New Zealand sitting at home. We have to position ourselves as advocates both for our own economic interests and the institutions that underpin them.”
Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on New Zealand, the low end of his tariffs for all imports into the US. Wellington has said it would not retaliate. About 12% of New Zealand’s exports went to the US last year.
