O’Connor tries to shore up UK deal
Trade Minister Damien O’Connor is headed to the United Kingdom to shore up a free trade deal and convince British farmers their country won’t be flooded with New Zealand beef.
O’Connor, the first Cabinet minister to leave the country since the borders were shut because of the Covid-19 pandemic, was expected to leave New Zealand just minutes after midnight today.
Initially, the minister was to travel to Singapore, then visit London, Paris, and Brussels to discuss both the prospective New Zealand free trade deal with the UK, and similar talks with the European Union. He planned to stay two weeks in a managed isolation hotel when he returned.
O’Connor will arrive in London at the close of the G7 summit, at which it was expected Australia and the UK would strike a free trade deal, and after a fifth round of virtual negotiations between New Zealand and UK trade negotiators ends.
O’Connor said the latest market access offer – the tariffs and quotas the UK would apply to New Zealand’s products – from the British trade negotiators had ‘‘so far been well short’’.
New Zealand wants the removal of high trade tariffs and access for agricultural products. Britain is New Zealand’s sixth largest trading partner, with two-way trade nearing $6 billion in 2019. But the country takes a small fraction, 2.5 per cent, of New Zealand’s total exports.
O’Connor said a zero-tariff deal was a ‘‘realistic’’ proposition, but another matter for negotiation was how long this would be phased in.
‘‘It’s great to end up at a zerotariff situation. The timelines are obviously crucial and often the part for debate.’’ A ‘‘good ambition’’ was a deal that would have tariffs removed within 10 years, he said.
O’Connor, who also has the agriculture portfolio, said he would also
‘‘There’s a perception in both the UK and the EU that we could swamp their market, that we are huge volume exporters. We’re not.’’
Damien O’Connor
Trade Minister
be meeting with agricultural leaders in the UK to ‘‘explain the realities of our aspirations for a trade deal’’.
‘‘There’s a perception in both the UK and the EU that we could swamp their market, that we are huge volume exporters. We’re not.’’
While in London, O’Connor will meet his UK counterpart, Secretary of Trade Liz Truss. The pair agreed, at her suggestion, to ‘‘accelerate’’ UK-NZ negotiations in May.
O’Connor had not spoken to his Australian counterpart, Minister Dan Tehan, about the Australian deal and he did not know if it would be signed at the G7.
‘‘We don’t know the details of that and we’re negotiating our own agreement,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re not sacrificing quality for speed.’’
The UK wanted clearer access into investment here and the removal of excise tax on British gin.