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Todd McLay: Trade Minister on free trade agreement with India · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News talks'b Follow this
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  Speaker 2: Some more good news for New Zealand in because it's
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  Speaker 2: been announced overnight as part of the PM's trade trip
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  Speaker 2: to India this week, they've officially launched free trade negotiations.
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  Speaker 2: So what are we looking at for specifically and how
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  Speaker 2: long does it take trade? Minutes to Todd McLay is
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  Speaker 2: in India and with us morning, Good morning mate, So
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  Speaker 2: India and FTA, if you can crack this, this would
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  Speaker 2: be one of the big prizes. Surely.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's exactly right.
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  Speaker 4: As one point four billion people and their income are growing.
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  Speaker 3: We've put a huge amount of work into.
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  Speaker 4: This relationship over the last fifteen months across the board,
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  Speaker 4: not only in trade, and it started to be reciprocated.
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  Speaker 4: So we're ready pleased to have formally launched the negotiation
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  Speaker 4: with India. First negotiators will get together early next month.
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  Speaker 4: And although you know it's very pleasing we've made this progress,
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  Speaker 4: I've got to say the hard work starts now.
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  Speaker 2: You're going to have to flag deary, aren't you.
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  Speaker 4: Well, we're not we haven't ruled anything in or out
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  Speaker 4: on either side because we said we want to be
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  Speaker 4: a comprehensive agreement.
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  Speaker 3: It's fair to say that.
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  Speaker 4: It's important, you know, for different reasons to both countries.
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  Speaker 4: But we've also agreed we're not going to talk about
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  Speaker 4: the negotiation outside of the room. We want to back
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  Speaker 4: our negotiators be able to get in and do the
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  Speaker 4: best that they can. And you know, both the Minister
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  Speaker 4: gui my counterpartner I have said if we're out talking
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  Speaker 4: about it in public, it makes it harder for them.
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  Speaker 4: The assurance I can give you in every New Zealander
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  Speaker 4: is we'll be getting the best deal that we can.
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  Speaker 2: Though from India, do you have a bottom line at
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  Speaker 2: which point you'll simply have to walk away as badly
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  Speaker 2: as you may want it.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I don't think we will have to walk away,
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  Speaker 4: although you know it did happened nine years ago last
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  Speaker 4: time into negotiation. We've spent the fifteen months sort of
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  Speaker 4: talking through issues this. You know, I've been India five
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  Speaker 4: times now. I've had eight meetings with my counterpart and
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  Speaker 4: my last visit was up in December. Our officials have
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  Speaker 4: been meeting frequently on the telephone and flying up and
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  Speaker 4: down and seeing each other. I've been talking to Minster
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  Speaker 4: Goel a lot on the telephone, so we can have
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  Speaker 4: a very clear understanding of how we might put together
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  Speaker 4: some of the issues that have been more challenging previously.
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  Speaker 4: So we both agreed a little while ago we should
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  Speaker 4: only launch if we believe we can conclude an agreement
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  Speaker 4: and we're committed to it. And I was locked away
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  Speaker 4: for most of the day within the day, just working
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  Speaker 4: through various issues, and we got to a point where
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  Speaker 4: we have agreed we should launch. So we're backing ourselves
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  Speaker 4: to get a deal done.
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  Speaker 2: I was listening to Vandalayan and Europe the other day
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  Speaker 2: say they should get something done with India by the
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  Speaker 2: end of the year. Does this represent a new attitude
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  Speaker 2: from India or have you just bludgeoned them to the
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  Speaker 2: table to talk.
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  Speaker 3: It's a little bit of both.
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  Speaker 4: We started a while ago and they've never said no,
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  Speaker 4: they wouldn't do a deal with us. But you know,
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  Speaker 4: we're a small economy back in comparison to their size.
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  Speaker 4: But I do think as a result of what's happening
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  Speaker 4: with tariffs and so on around the world, you're seeing
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  Speaker 4: a lot more countries who have been hesitant to do
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  Speaker 4: trade deals.
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  Speaker 3: You know, leaning into that a little bit more.
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  Speaker 4: I mean I was talking to the EU Commissioner just
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  Speaker 4: a week ago, Trade Commissioner, and he was saying, well,
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  Speaker 4: you know, as the rest of the world is doing whatever,
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  Speaker 4: we're going to support trade rules, you know, so we
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  Speaker 4: can give certainty to our businesses and we're going to
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  Speaker 4: find ways to do more trade with each other.
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  Speaker 3: So I think that's probably part of it.
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  Speaker 4: But you know, Prime Minister Luxeon said when we're in
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  Speaker 4: opposition and again forming a government, our relationship with India
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  Speaker 4: would be a strategic priority across the board and trade
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  Speaker 4: is part of that. And I think we're starting to see,
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  Speaker 4: you know, with the announcement today on our first day
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  Speaker 4: here as you know, the biggest trade mission New Zealand's
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  Speaker 4: ever done to India, this announcement that India is reciprocating
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  Speaker 4: the effort we're putting in.
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  Speaker 2: Speaking of tariffs, you spent some time with jameson Grea,
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  Speaker 2: who's Trump's trade man. Is Is that going to go
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  Speaker 2: well or not?
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  Speaker 3: Well? Look, my feeling is the world will see tariffs.
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  Speaker 4: It's not clear whether it's going to be unilateral or
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  Speaker 4: you know, country by country certainly looking very very closely
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  Speaker 4: at Canada, and that's going to get tough the announcements
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  Speaker 4: around Europe as well. The conversation I had with jameson
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  Speaker 4: Greer last week extended to forty five minutes, much longer
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  Speaker 4: than we're scheduled, and it was very very constructive and friendly.
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  Speaker 4: There aren't too many things that the US are worried
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  Speaker 4: about or singling out around New Zealand. I was able
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  Speaker 4: to make the case about we respect the rules that
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  Speaker 4: actually European exporters have much lower tariff rates into our
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  Speaker 4: market than ours do over there, and we've agreed that
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  Speaker 4: we're going to.
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  Speaker 3: Meet quite soon, probably up in Washington, to talk further.
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  Speaker 4: So there's no indication that they are focusing on New Zealand,
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  Speaker 4: but if they decide to put tariffs on everybody, we
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  Speaker 4: are likely to get caught by that one.
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  Speaker 3: Way or another.
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  Speaker 2: All right, go well this week. Appreciated Trade Minister Todd
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  Speaker 2: McLay up in India.
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