New Zealand, Australia speak with EU, Singapore on bolstering free trade amid volley of US tariffs (2025)

WELLINGTON/SYDNEY - New Zealand and Australia said on April 10 they are each working with other nations on a possible joint response to shore up free trade against a barrage of US tariffs.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand said he had spoken with the leaders of Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as the head of the European Union’s executive about international trade cooperation.

In a speech on April 10, he said one idea was for members of the European Union and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to work together.

International trade has been upended by US President Donald Trump who announced sweeping tariffs last week on dozens of countries, which were met by retaliatory tariffs by many of them, triggering massive volatility in markets.

In a stunning reversal on April 9, Mr Trump said he would temporarily suspend the hefty tariffs he had imposed on most countries.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said government ministers had held discussions with South-east Asian nations, Japan, Korea, India and the EU about a joint response to US tariffs.

“There is a group of countries who see the benefit of free and open and fair trade,” she said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC.

In posts on X, Mr Luxon said he had separate phone calls with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on buttressing rules-based free trade to spur economic growth.

He said he also spoke to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about “what the EU and New Zealand can do together to support the trade rules that underpin Kiwi (New Zealand) jobs and growth”.

PM Wong wrote on X that he agreed with Mr Luxon that as small, trade-dependent and like-minded countries, both Singapore and New Zealand must continue working together to uphold the rules-based order and free trade.

New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia are members of the CPTPP, which also includes countries such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico and Britain.

“One possibility is that members of the CPTPP and the European Union work together to champion rules-based trade and make specific commitments on how that support plays out in practice,” he said in a speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Luxon added he was heading to Britain later in April to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to talk trade, security, and the geopolitical.

“We can’t make the case for New Zealand sitting at home,” he said. “We have to position ourselves as advocates both for our own economic interests and the institutions that underpin them.”

Mr Trump has imposed a 10 per cent tariff on Australia and New Zealand, the low end of his tariffs for all imports into the United States. Wellington and Canberra have both said they will not retaliate.

About 12 per cent of New Zealand’s and 5 per cent of Australia’s exports went to the US in 2024. REUTERS

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