UK poised for huge post-Brexit trade deal with New Zealand
BRITAIN is poised to sign a trade deal with New Zealand within days which could unlock a new trans-Pacific agreement worth £9trillion.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the International Trade Secretary, hopes to announce a deal which would see tariffs slashed on goods such as gin, chocolate, clothing, cars and buses, and allow level-playing field access for British investors to the country.
In return, British shoppers will be able to choose between a wider range of ‘ high-end’ lamb from New Zealand, while levies of up to 20p a bottle on the country’s successful wine industry would also be slashed.
Tariffs of up to 10 per cent on UK products would be dropped, giving British exporters an advantage over international rivals in the New Zealand import market, which is expected to grow by 30 per cent by 2030. Cars are the UK’s biggest export to New Zealand, with £133million-worth sold last year.
Although British trade with New Zealand is only worth about £2.3billion a year, negotiators hope that it will help the UK to be accepted into the mammoth Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TransPacific Partnership, a trade bloc which includes Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Vietnam.
Ms Trevelyan held the first round of talks on the CPTPP last month, describing it as a ‘big milestone’ on a path to forging ‘stronger links both with old friends and some of the world’s fastestgrowing economies’.
Sources said that the New Zealand deal would be the ‘same shape’ as the deal signed in June with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
British farmers have expressed fears that the deals could lead to cheaper, lower quality produce flooding UK markets.