Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has cautiously welcomed the United States’ decision to remove additional reciprocal tariffs on several major Kiwi agricultural exports, including beef, offal and kiwifruit — goods that make up roughly a quarter of New Zealand’s US-bound exports and are worth about NZ$2.21 billion a year.
The tariffs, introduced in April at 10% and raised to 15% in August due to what Washington called a “modest” trade surplus in New Zealand’s favour, have caused months of uncertainty and higher costs for exporters.
McClay said the rollback would save around $330 million in extra duties and restore much-needed stability, but emphasised it was only a partial victory, with tariffs still applying to other key products and the wider reciprocal tariff regime continuing to undermine confidence.
He said New Zealand already offers the US a highly open market, with average tariffs of just 0.3%, and that he will continue pressing US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to remove all remaining retaliatory tariffs.
Image credit: Bernd Dittrich
Great! However, the biggest enemy to NZ beef and dairy is the Ministry of Primary Industries. They have over-regulated the industry and farmers are having to do stupid stuff to comply.
Yes, feeding cows MRNA saturated seaweed to try and make them fart less is profoundly stupid.
This is what happens when you allow this nation to become the US’s dependent bitch. FBI on our doorsteps too. Not a govt, colonial governors.
No doubt this is a trade off, pun intended, for other machinations to set foot in Godzone.
Well done Mr McLay. A genuine and clever mp working hard to make kiwis lives better.
Shame you’re being let down by…
1. Finance Minister Willis who fools kiwis by tinkering with supermarkets ability to build but does nothing about the competition stopping stranglehold the current duopoly has on wholesale food markets.
2. Energy Minister Watts who implemented a mere 2 out of 12 recommendations from the latest time and money wasting electricity market report. The 2022 report told Watts how to fix the price colluding gentailers but he ignored that as well..
3. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson who thinks the solution to NZ’s multi decade Aussie bankng fraud is to write to banks to “encourage them to consider” disclosing profitability on transaction, on-call, and savings accounts.
4. Prime Minister Luxon who allows the aforementioned 3 corrupt MPS to continue tarnishing his reputation and ruining any chance Luxon has of “fixing the joint”