New Zealand locks in April 27 signing date for India trade deal but ratification battle looms

New Zealand will formally sign its free trade agreement with India on 27 April in New Delhi, Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay confirmed on Monday, setting the stage for what could be a bruising ratification fight back home.

The signing will take place at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi and will be accompanied by an India-New Zealand Business Forum. Legal verification of the agreement was completed this week, clearing the way for the ceremony. The deal was reached in December 2025 after nine months of negotiation and covers a market of 1.4 billion people.

For New Zealand exporters, the terms are substantial. Ninety-five percent of New Zealand’s exports to India will have tariffs eliminated or reduced. Fifty-seven percent become duty-free immediately on the deal’s entry into force, rising to 82 percent once fully implemented. The gains are particularly significant for the primary sector. Sheep meat and wool gain zero-tariff access from day one, removing an existing 30 percent tariff. Kiwifruit will be duty-free on an initial quota of 6,250 tonnes, rising to 15,000 tonnes over six years — nearly four times current export volumes. Manuka honey will see its tariff cut from 66 percent to 16.5 percent over five years. Wine tariffs, currently as high as 150 percent, will be reduced to between 25 and 50 percent over a decade. Seafood including mussels and salmon, infant formula, and forestry products will also gain significantly improved access.

The total value of two-way NZ-India trade sits at around $3.68 billion a year in goods and services. McClay said the deal would be “worth billions of dollars of new exports for New Zealand, and thousands of jobs,” and that it would allow New Zealand businesses to “compete on equal footing in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.” ExportNZ executive director Joshua Tan noted that “India is on track to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030.” Meat Industry Association chair Nathan Guy called it “a fantastic deal for our primary sector at a time where there’s geopolitical issues.”

But not everyone is celebrating. The deal has a significant political complication that will test the government’s ability to see it over the line.

NZ First leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters remains firmly opposed to the agreement. NZ First invoked the coalition’s “agree to disagree” provision before the deal was concluded, and Peters has not softened his stance since. He has described the agreement as “neither free nor fair” and has taken particular aim at the immigration provisions, which include 1,667 skilled worker visas per year on three-year non-renewable terms, and 1,000 Working Holiday Scheme places annually for Indian citizens. Peters has accused the government of offering India greater per-capita labour market access than Australia or the United Kingdom received in their own free trade agreements, warning the provisions could result in significant numbers of workers displacing New Zealanders. He called business support for the deal “breathttaking” and compared endorsing it to “signing a contract blindfolded.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has publicly said Peters is wrong on this point. McClay confirmed the coalition’s “agree to disagree” process was used, and noted that many of the workers covered by the visa provisions fill genuine gaps in the New Zealand economy.

The critical question now is whether the government can get the agreement ratified. To give effect to the deal, Parliament must amend the Tariff Act. Without NZ First, the government does not hold a parliamentary majority, meaning it needs Labour’s support to pass enabling legislation.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has not committed his party’s votes. He said there are “issues and inconsistencies that still need to be clarified by the government to ensure any deal works in the long-term interest of New Zealanders,” and that the government had not yet provided detail Labour had been seeking for almost two months. Hipkins warned that “signing a free trade agreement without majority backing would be recklessly irresponsible.”

The government is pressing ahead regardless. After the April 27 signing, the National Interest Analysis will be tabled in Parliament the following day, triggering a select committee review and public submission period before enabling legislation is considered. That process will give Labour further opportunity to extract concessions or commitments from the government before committing its votes.

Twenty-eight major industry groups and exporters — including Federated Farmers, Zespri, Seafood New Zealand and Beef and Lamb New Zealand — have written to Parliament urging it to back the agreement. BusinessNZ chief executive Katherine Rich framed the stakes plainly, saying that “New Zealand relies on global markets to drive growth, support jobs and lift incomes.”

Not all sectors share equally in the gains. Dairy, one of New Zealand’s largest export industries, is absent from the deal — a significant omission given India’s protectionist approach to its own dairy sector and the political sensitivities around it. The exclusion means Fonterra and other dairy exporters will not benefit from the agreement in the way meat, horticulture and seafood industries will.

The timing adds another layer of interest. With global trade facing fresh uncertainty from shifting US tariff policy and disrupted supply chains, the government has argued that deepening ties with a fast-growing Indo-Pacific economy is exactly the kind of strategic pivot New Zealand needs. Critics, including Peters, argue the price being paid in immigration concessions is too high. The next few weeks in Parliament will determine who gets to be right.

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