increase font size
US President Donald Trump
New Zealand's dairy industry is right to call out Donald Trump over the damage the additional 15% tariff the US is imposing on our exports but also imposition on lower tariffs on our competitors.
This will likely have the effect of completely skewing the international dairy market to our detriment.
It's clear that the Trump administration doesn't care about NZ or anyone else, be they friend or foe. They are simply focused on a blanket policy plank that they as righting the wrongs of the rules-based trade system embodied in the WTO. Such self-interest has long been a feature of American politics and from time to time it has used its economic power to its advantage.
As a tiny country we have little real power in this whole debate and can only sit in the cheapest seats of the auditorium and see what plays out. We can hope that rational arguments have a place in the uncertain and strange geopolitical environment that we live in. But while we know that common sense no longer applies, maybe also logic and loyalty are now things of the past.
If this was only US vs. NZ, maybe we could live with the 15% tariffs, but it's consequential and unpredictable flow-on effects that are worry.
Under the auspices of the WTO, NZ at least could voice its concerns and, through the rules of that organisation, make progress on dairy access like it has just done with Canada. But with Trump there is no consensus or consultation on the rule making, no real appeal process, and that uncertainty is the only certainty.
In previous trade hiccups that NZ has encountered, diversification has always been an option, but the global effect of the US tariff policy has been to economically de-stabilise many of these markets.
The focus of NZ now surely must be to produce high quality competitively priced products and hope for the best.
Supply chain problems, growing protectionism and a move to greater food security are some of the key challenges facing New Zealand exporters, according to our top trade negotiator, Vangelis Vitalis.
PM Chris Luxon can't seem to buy a trick when it comes to the polls, particularly for his own approval rating as preferred Prime Minister.
New Zealand red meat exports are booming but a pending decision in the White House, Washington D.C., could dent sheepmeat earnings.
OPINION: When Donald Trump returned to the White House, many people with half a brain could see the results for the world might be a bit average, and our boy has been busy trying to prove them right.
OPINION: President Trump's tariff wars have torpedoed the US grain belt's biggest market, China, sending many US family farms to the wall.
OPINION: In politics, credibility is and should be big. It must surely rank higher than charisma, which is quite trite and superficial. Yet, voters nowadays are often wooed and influenced by how someone looks or talks at a superficial level. TV plays a huge role in this.
Farmers can spend less time on paperwork, thanks to a new data sharing agreement between DairyNZ’s DairyBase and LIC’s MINDA software.
Kaikōura families affected by July's severe storm have found a practical solution to a problem that's kept some children away from regular schooling for weeks: a washed-out section of Inland Kaikōura Road, which has stopped the local school bus from running its usual route.
Rural New Zealand is welcoming the Government’s recent package of rural healthcare initiatives.
Interest in agritech and production animal systems has prompted Massey University's School of Agriculture and the Environment to new majors to its popular animal science degree.
Ballance Agrinutrients chief executive Kelvin Wickham says despite a tough year, he is pleased the business has returned to profit.
OPINION: After hogging the media limelight for telling a NZ Chinese MP to "go back home", Winston Peters has decided…
OPINION: With fuel prices soaring, one would have expected most farmers to be reclaiming excise duty on petrol.
