Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he was “seriously pleased” with how his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio went.
Peters has been in Washington DC this week, meeting with Democrat and Republican lawmakers, as well as various players from the Trump administration.
It comes as the President’s trade war and threats of tariffs, alongside his hardline approach to defence and attempts to find an end to the war in Ukraine, have upended the international order.
Emerging from his meeting with Rubio today, Peters told reporters he was “very pleased” with the outcome.
“We came here to listen to the new administration and to be clear about what is important to New Zealand,” he said.
The foreign minister described his meeting with Rubio as “substantive and productive”.
“We’ve had an excellent trip.”
Peters said the pair talked about New Zealand’s position, the two countries’ relationship, the US’s trading circumstances, security circumstances, as well as security in the Pacific. Peters did not divulge any specifics about the discussion.
When asked about tariffs, Peters said the country could be “much more confident than when we originally came [to Washington DC]”.
“We shared some significant information, for example, that since 1870, we’ve been asking about a trade agreement, and I pointed out to him how patient we were.
“On the matter of tariffs, [New Zealand] had set the standard four decades ago, and other countries were catching up in terms of fairness. He understood that.”
In 1987, the Labour Government announced a programme that would reduce most tariffs to less than 20% by 1992. This was later extended to less than 10% by 1996. New Zealand’s low tariffs are often used as concessions when negotiating trade deals with other countries.
Peters said Rubio was aware of New Zealand’s long-standing relationship with China.
“But at the end of the day, we are talking about not just China. We were talking about the blue continent, the Pacific, which we are a key player, and he recognises that.
“We were seriously pleased with the outcome.
“We have made some serious arrangements to keep our dialogue and conversation going in a very meaningful way.”
Peters said the two could have been there for “hours and hours”.
The Government, Peters said, had put “a lot of work” into ensuring New Zealand was prepared for whichever administration took office in the US.
“We’ve hit the ground running.”
Asked if he had noticed anything different on this visit compared to his last visit under the Biden administration, Peters said: “There’s been a lot of alarmed comments by too many people about what it all means.”
“And we’ve advocated from day one, let the dust settle, let’s find out what it all means.
“Caution is the name of the game here, and I’m pleased we’ve taken that position”.
Asked if his trip to DC was successful, Peters said: “For those of us seriously worried about the real world, we were concerned to ensure we came here and we achieved the objectives which was the establishment of a good relationship.
“We have an independent foreign policy, they respect that, but it doesn’t mean we can’t cooperate with countries like the United States, the most powerful economy and one of the world’s enduring democracies”.
