Sunday, October 5, 2008

Free Trade Agreement




A proposed Free Trade Deal with the United States will have huge benefits to New Zealand. The deal is estimated to be worth around a billion dollars a year to the economy.

The US has agreed to join Singapore, New Zealand, Chile and Brunei in the "Comprehensive Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement". Commonly known as the "P4", the group had the broad objective to break down barriers to trade among the Pacific Rim nations.

A much sought bi-lateral agreement with the United States has eluded NZ for years due to our anti-nuclear policy and our refusal to join the US in military action in Iraq.

Our five biggest export markets are: Australia, the US, Japan, China, and the UK. We will now have trade agreements with three of our five biggest markets: Australia, the USA and China.

The agreement is expected to take between 12 to 24 months to settle, with talks starting as early as next year.



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