UK, New Zealand agree to comprehensive trade agreement

21 Oct '21

2 min read

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Right) in virtual conversation with New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Pic: GOV.UK

The United Kingdom and New Zealand have agreed to a comprehensive trade agreement to cut red tape for businesses, end tariffs on UK exports and create new opportunities for technology and services companies, while making it easier for UK professionals to live and work in New Zealand. The deal was agreed in a video call yesterday between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern.

Both sides held 16 months of talks before agreeing to the deal.

UK-New Zealand trade was worth £2.3 billion last year and is set to grow under the deal. The deal will remove barriers to trade and deepen access for UK advanced tech and services companies, while making it easier for smaller businesses to break into the New Zealand market, an official UK government release said.

Tariffs as high as 10 per cent will be removed on a huge range of UK goods, from clothing and footwear to buses, ships, bulldozers and excavators, giving British exporters an advantage over international rivals in the New Zealand import market, which is expected to grow by around 30 per cent by 2030.

The deal follows advanced free trade agreements already struck with Australia and Japan and helps pave the way for UK to join Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade area of 11 Pacific nations with a gross domestic product of £8.4 trillion in 2020, the release said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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