Exporters call for India FTA support

The Herald reports:

Some of New Zealand’s top exporters and business associations have signed an open letter calling on all political parties to back New Zealand’s free trade agreement with India. …

The open letter, organised by BusinessNZ, was signed by 28 exporters and industry associations, such as Federated Farmers, Zespri, Seafood New Zealand and Beef + Lamb New Zealand.

The letter said trade was critical to New Zealand’s prosperity and the FTA was the next significant step forward.

“In an increasingly uncertain global environment marked by rising protectionism, geopolitical tension and supply chain disruption, New Zealand cannot afford to stand still,” the letter said.

Having trade agreements with other countries protects us, especially in times like today.

Securing better access to India will help build resilience, spread risk and strengthen our economic position. 

“An FTA with India is not a luxury; it is a strategic necessity for our economic security.”

If you’re worried we are too reliant on China for our exports, you should support the India FTA.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the letter was a “breathtaking” position for BusinessNZ to take.

“How they and the 28 other businesses and associations could have signed up to support the India FTA without knowing what is in it is an appalling commentary on them all,” Peters posted on social media.

“How on earth can there be any sort of proper analysis of the FTA if they haven’t even read the agreement?”

This is silly. The major details have been published and are well known. It is inane to say you can’t have a position on an FTA, unless you have read every clause. By this logic, Winston isn’t in a position to oppose it, because he hasn’t seen the full text either.

The summary of the FTA provides lots of detail. The final text gets wrangled by lawyers for months, and has to be consistent with the high level agreement.

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