Trading Partner Portal: New Zealand
Overview
Governor Newsom meets with New Zealand Prime Minister Luxon, reaffirms climate partnership
GO-Biz, July 12, 2024
Trade Overview
New Zealand, whose capital city is Wellington, is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. It is approximately the size of Colorado and has a population of roughly 5.2 million. The country is divided into two major islands. The North Island is home to approximately 78 percent of the population while the South Island boasts a larger land mass with varied topography from deep fjords to many steep mountain peaks.
U.S. Department of State
New Zealand is a strong advocate for free trade and was the first developed county to enter into a free trade agreement with the People’s Republic of China. New Zealand also has free trade agreements with Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia and the ASEAN nations. www.newzealand.com
New Zealand’s number one export is agriculture. Leading agricultural exports include dairy products, meat, forest products, fruit and vegetables, fish, and wool. New Zealand has been ranked as the second best country to do business in the world by the World Bank “Doing Business 2020” report. According to the most recent figures, New Zealand has a GDP of $249 billion and GDP per capita of $48,072 as of 2023.
U.S.-New Zealand Trade
In 2023, The United States exported nearly $4.4 billion to New Zealand, making it the U.S. 50th export market. Goods exported consisted of transportation equipment ($1.67 billion), non-electrical machinery ($427 million), computer and electronic products ($392 million), other special classification provisions ($365 million), and chemicals ($357 million).
In this same year, the U.S. imported nearly $5.4 billion worth of goods, with a large portion of the imports being $2.5 million in processed foods. This made New Zealand the U.S. 52nd import partner. Other top imports included beverages and tobacco products ($616 million), non-electrical machinery ($410 million), good returned ($368 million), and computer and electronic products ($267 million).
U.S. Department of Commerce
New Zealand – California Trade
California exported approximately $544 million to New Zealand in 2023, with it being the second exporting state to New Zealand. Top exports included computer & electronic products ($84 million), processed foods ($110 million), transportation equipment ($68 million), agriculture products ($46 million), and miscellaneous manufactures ($43 million).
California imported $1.3 billion from New Zealand in 2023 with processed foods making up $644 million of the total, followed by beverages and tobacco ($266 million), agricultural products ($77 million), fish and other marine products ($50 million), and computer and electronic products ($45 million).U.S. Department of Commerce
FDI-New Zealand
U.S. FDI in New Zealand totaled $8.5 billion in 2023, while New Zealand FDI in the US totaled $3 billion. New Zealand. In 2021, New Zealand FDI supported 18,600 jobs in the US and contributed $1.4 billion to expanding US exports. In this same year, they also contributed $54 million in innovative research and development. The top industry sectors for New Zealand FDI in the US were: software and IT services, transportation, communications, plastics, business services and industrial equipment. (Select USA)
More Articles:
Video: New Zealand Exports 1983 – 2018
Source: New Zealand Trade & Enterprise
Trade Agreements
Trade Agreements
U.S.-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement
United States and New Zealand Meet Under Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
USTR, July 20, 2018
United States and New Zealand concluded two days of meetings under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), noting the strong and growing trade relationship between the two countries and discussing a full range of bilateral issues.
Members of the U.S. Congress have requested negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand. New Zealand and the United States have been strong partners and good friends for over a century. Political ties are close, business links are strong, and cultural links are many and varied.
In the aftermath of September 11, New Zealand Prime Minister Clark quickly and firmly offered diplomatic, political, and military support. New Zealand is one of only two countries that has fought side-by-side with America in every war since World War I.
New Zealand is one of America’s strongest allies in international trade liberalization. New Zealand has worked consistently with the United States in trade forums, such as the WTO and APEC.
New Zealand and the Trans Pacific Partnership
The original Trans-Pacific Agreement negotiations were launched by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore at the APEC leaders’ summit in 2002. After attending a number of rounds as an observer, Brunei joined the Trans-Pacific Agreement as a “founding member”.
The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) was signed by New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei in the summer of 2005.
One of the objectives of the Trans-Pacific Agreement is to create a trade agreement that could be seen as a model within the Asia-Pacific region and could potentially attract new members. The agreement is open to accession “on terms to be agreed among the parties, by any APEC economy or other state”.
On November 14, 2009, during his first trip to Asia as President of the United States, President Barack Obama announced the United States’ intention to engage with the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries to shape a regional agreement, with the objective of shaping a high-standard, broad-based regional pact helping to expand U.S. exports, saving and creating good U.S. jobs.
In November 2011, at the APEC meetings in Hawaii, Japan, Mexico and Canada expressed interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and were welcomed by the US.
New Zealand and the United States Build Relationship Through Free Trade
ITA Blog, August 2, 2016
For more information, visit www.calchamber.com/TPP
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
After 8 years of negotiations, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was signed on November 15, 2020. The RCEP is a free trade agreement (FTA) with 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states—Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam—and the five states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs—Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Please see the CalChamber’s RCEP page for more info.
RCEP – Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Text of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
Events
Events
New Zealand Consul General Visits CalChamber
On Wednesday, September 26, 2012, Honorary Consul Starr Hurley visited the CalChamber offices with the newly appointed Consul General for New Zealand in Los Angeles, Leon Grice.
The Consul General discussed California and New Zealand trade, as well as the Trans Pacific Partnership and the possibility of a U.S. – New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.
For full Alert article, please click here.