New Zealand Seeks High-Quality Free Trade Agreement with India to Boost Exports

Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has departed for New Delhi today to lead the next round of ministerial-level negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India.

The visit follows Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s successful trip to New Zealand in November, during which substantive talks were held in Rotorua, and Minister McClay’s own visit to Mumbai later in November.

Since Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and I formally launched negotiations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 March this year, momentum has been growing, Mr McClay says.

This will be my seventh visit to India since the election – including leading a forestry trade mission – and my fifteenth face-to-face meeting with Minister Goyal and other senior Indian Ministers. The Rt Hon Winston Peters has visited India twice in that time, and the Prime Minister led New Zealand’s largest-ever business delegation there in March.

In return we have welcomed the President of India to New Zealand in 2024 and two Indian ministerial visits this year, including Minister Goyal heading a large business delegation.

Mr McClay says a high-quality FTA with India is strongly in New Zealand’s national interest.

Without an agreement we are rapidly losing ground to competitors. Australia and the UK already have FTAs and the EU is deep in negotiations. This puts our exporters at a significant disadvantage and we are losing market share as a result, Mr McClay says.

Before Australia signed its FTA with India in 2022, New Zealand supplied almost 90 per cent of India’s lamb imports. Today that has collapsed to around 8 per cent, while Australia now supplies over 90 per cent. That is the direct result of New Zealand sheep farmers facing a 33 per cent tariff while Australian product enters duty-free.

A comprehensive deal will create thousands of jobs and generate billions in new export revenue by giving our world-class producers fairer access to a market of 1.4 billion people that is growing fast.

We still have work to do, but we are pushing hard for an ‘Australia-plus’ outcome that delivers genuine preferential advantage for New Zealand exporters.

I back hard-working New Zealand farmers, growers and businesses to not only compete with, but outperform, the Australians in this market.

This Government is focused on rebuilding the economy, lifting wages and improving living standards. Securing better access to one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies is a key part of that plan - while fully protecting New Zealand’s right to make our own laws in the future.

Many countries are increasing tariffs and putting up trade barriers. As the world does deals with India we are missing out, Mr McClay says.