Editorial: We are Trumped
OPINION: Nothing it seems can be done in the short term to get Donald Trump to change his mind about removing the unfair 15% tariffs that he’s imposed on New Zealand exports to the US.
The recent squabble between the Cook Islands and NZ over their deal with China has added a new element of tension in the relationship between China and NZ.
This has been further exacerbated by the presence of Chinese navy ships in the Tasman sea.
International trade specialist Stephen Jacobi says these incidents are deeply unhelpful for NZ trying to maintain a constructive relationship with China.
He says NZ cannot afford to antagonise the Chinese.
"I can't help thinking that the way that China has played its hand suggests that they are not as well disposed to us as they might have been in the past," he says.
Jacobi has been in Australia in the past week attending a meeting of the APEC Business Council (ABAC) - an independent high-level group of business people who advise the economic leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on priority issues for business in the region.
He says there was a lot of concern among members about the possible impacts of what might happen, but he says they all seem to agree that it's best to wait and see what actually develops and then be nimble in response.
Jacobi says NZ and other ABAC partners still have a lot of investment in the future of the global rules based system and if the US wants to take itself out of that, NZ still has the rest of the world to deal with.
A US-based company developing a vaccine to reduce methane emissions in cattle has received another capital injection from New Zealand’s agriculture sector.
Wools of New Zealand has signed a partnership agreement with a leading Chinese manufacturer as the company looks to further grow demand in China and globally.
Opportunities for Māori are there for the taking if they scale up their operations and work more closely together.
OPINION: Farmer shareholders of two of New Zealand's largest co-operatives have an important decision to make this month and what they decide could change the landscape of the dairy and meat sectors in New Zealand.
As the first of a new series of interprofessional rural training hubs opened in South Taranaki late September, Rural Health Network has celebrated the move as a "key pathway to encourage the growth and retention of health professionals in rural areas".
OPINION: Dairy industry players are also falling by the wayside as the economic downturn bites around the country.
OPINION: Methane Science Accord, a farmer-led organisation advocating for zero tax on ruminant methane, will be quietly celebrating its first…