NZ PM defends signing world’s largest trade deal
Wellington: New Zealand’s Labour Party has been accused of “hypocrisy” for signing New Zealand up to the world’s largest free trade agreement because Labour MPs marched against a similar deal in 2016.
But NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has defended signing up to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, because it will give New Zealand exporters a common set of rules with 14 other nations, she says.
RCEP is a trade agreement between 15 economies in the Asia-Pacific region that are home to almost a third of the world’s population and take over half of New Zealand’s exports.