Editorial: Hope for the best
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.
US president-elect Donald Trump has the powers, delegated by Congress, to wreak havoc on international trade, says trade expert Stephen Jacobi.
The question is “will he use them?” Jacobi asks.
“The impacts and choices for New Zealand under a Trump presidency are unclear at best,” says Jacobi, a former diplomat who is executive director of the NZ International Business Forum and also on the NZ China Council.
“In the short term, I find it hard to see a way through for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the ‘lame duck’ session,” he says.
“Longer term, the issues behind TPP (market access, better trade rules, actions to promote investment and reducing the costs of doing business) will all need to be addressed.”
Going forward, it’s all about policy, people and the president himself, he says.
“On policies, what will be the approach to trade agreements and what will be the new normal in the US relationship with China?”
Jacobi says it remains to be seen whether Trump really will rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between US, Canada and Mexico.
“What about multilateral agreements like the WTO and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change? “On people, who will advise Trump on trade? Will the Republican establishment come back to serve in a Trump administration?
“On the president, how will his unpredictable and abrasive nature play into global policy?”
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
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