Stephen Jacobi: former trade negotiator on Labour criticising the Government for not getting a better trade deal from the Trump administration

Labour has slammed the Government for not getting a better trade deal out of the current Trump administration.

New Zealand currently has to pay a 10 percent tariff on all imports on New Zealand products out of the US.

But the opposition has claimed the Government is failing Kiwis by 'being comfortable' with a 10 percent tariff.

Former trade negotiator Stephen Jacobi says the Government is watching and consulting with trading partners.

"It's doing all those right sort of things. You have to remember that we are being charged as an additional tariff at the lowest end of the scale - we don't have a lot to offer the United States."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Labor has slammed the government for not being upset enough
about Trump's ten percent tariff. They're not happy that the
PM is quote being comfortable about it, and I reckon
that means he's failing us all as Kiwi's former trade
negotiated to Stephen Jacoby is with me on the say Stephen, hi,
how are you? I'm very well, thank you. What else
can he do other than be comfortable about it?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I wonder really if he is comfortable about these tariffs
being applied. Remember their additional tariff. It's not just the
ten percent tariff. If we're already paying a tariff, it's
ten percent plus, so fifteen percent tariff already on butter
now twenty five percent. No one can be very comfortable
about that.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
No, probably not. I mean, is this just something you
have to say diplomatically or what do you think?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Well? What I am comfortable about is where the government
is on this at the moment. It's watching, it's consulting,
it's consulting with trading partners. In particular, we've got Todd
mclayoff and you know Paris at the moment doing just that.
It's doing all those right sort of things you have
to remember that we are being charged as additional tariff

(01:05):
at the lower lowest end of the scale. We don't
have a lot to offer the United States. We've just
seen the UK go and bend the knee in Washington
and come back with not much, nothing less than ten
percent and not a marvelous deal really to boast for it.
So I think we just have to buy our time
for the time being. But make no mistake about it,

(01:25):
this is difficult for New Zealand exporters.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yeah, I bet it strikes me that what the Prime
Minister is probably trying to do with the language that
he is using at the moment, is not to draw
attention to New Zealand. Is that fair?

Speaker 2 (01:37):
I suspect that is the case. You know, we want
to make ourselves a small target. But he has been
pretty outspoken about the need to develop a dialogue with
the EU and CPTPP partners for example. That's an extremely
good idea, and you know, I hope that before too
long we'll see him going to China and doing what
he has to do there as well. Of course, he's

(01:58):
launched this FTA negotiation with India. These are all the
things that we have to be doing to create more
options for our exporters at the best of times and
indeed at the worst of times that we face in
the United States right now.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Absolutely, Stephen, thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it.
Stephen Jacoby, former trade negotiator.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
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