Francesca Rudkin: Let China and the US sort it out

Sometimes being the grown up in the room is deeply unfulfilling, pragmatic, sensible.

Considering consequences, taking a long-term view, they're all good, admirable words, and we should take some solace in them.

But sometimes I think we'd rather just throw a plate at the wall.

And so, it is. Was the government's response yesterday to the Trump tariffs essentially to roll over and take it understandable? Sure. Sensible. Yep, frustrating. Very.

The government confirmed we're not in the queue to negotiate a trade deal with President Trump's administration, nor are we interested in taking legal action over it, and the tariff hit will come after exporters had an excellent March.

It's a shame the party music has hit a bum-note, we want the growth. We want good export news, but without the dark tariff cloud lingering in the distance.

As Trade Minister Todd McClay said yesterday, we probably couldn't negotiate between below the current 10% rate and the legal process would be long winded and would probably go nowhere.

I'm presuming, like the majority of us who aren't diplomats and haven't been in a room negotiating a trade deal, this is a well-considered plan.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sometimes being the grown up in the room is deeply unfulfilling. Pragmatic, sensible,
considering consequences, taking a long term view. They're all good,
admirable words, and we should take some solace in them.
But sometimes I think we'd rather just throw a plate
at the wall. And so it is with the government's
response yesterday to the Trump tariffs, essentially to roll over

(00:20):
and take it. Understandable, sure, sensible, yep. Frustrating, very The
government confirmed we're not in the queue to negotiate a
trade deal with President Trump's administration, nor are we interested
in taking legal action over it, and the tariff hit
will come after export has had an excellent March and
it's a shame the party music has had a bum note.
We want the growth, we want good export news, but

(00:42):
without the dark tariff cloud lingering in the distance. As
Trade Minister Todd mcclacy yesterday, we probably couldn't negotiate between
below the current ten percent rate, and the legal process
would be a long winded affair that would probably go nowhere.
And I'm presuming, like the majority of us who aren't
diplomats and haven't been in a room to go adding
a trade deal This is a well considered plan, one

(01:02):
based on experience and insider information, but perhaps also because
making a fast good have unintended consequences and result in
even higher tariffs. It also makes sense to keep our
head down into our two biggest trading partners, China and
US have sorted out their own tiff. We need to
ensure both of feeling valued by US and not be
seen to take sides as we focus on growing our

(01:25):
trade markets. Will the plate throwers get sensible? Trump stated
during the White House a White House news conference that
the final tariff rate with China would come down substantially
from the current one hundred and forty forty five percent.
He said the US would be very nice to China
and not play hardball. Trump's remarks towards China come on

(01:46):
the same day the IF relest a new report showing
the United States faces the biggest downgrade among advanced countries
due to the increase in tariffs and the uncertainty of cause.
The IMF predicts the US economy will grow one point
eight percent this year, down from the estimated two point
seven percent, and there's a forty percent chance of recession.
So as this a case of Trump blinking and a

(02:08):
first sign of some steps towards a stabilizing global trade
is as a move by Trump to calm the nerves.
The markets shall responded well to both Trump's tariff call
on China and his remarks he has no intention of
firing the Federal Reserve chair. I don't think anyone knows
what's to come next or how Trump will respond to

(02:30):
Chinese social media hashtag such as Trump admitted defeat, but
I much prefer the adult Trump rather than the one
shrowing plates. In the meantime, New Zealand shall remain patient
and diplomatic, settle in and see what change may occur
again before the ninety day pause is up. For more

(02:50):
from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News
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