Speaker 1: Kyota.
Speaker 2: I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
Speaker 2: daily podcast presented by The New Zealand Herald. Donald J.
Speaker 2: Trump will become the forty seventh president of the United
Speaker 2: States of America.
Speaker 3: This will truly be the Golden Age of America.
Speaker 1: That's what we have done.
Speaker 2: Democrat Kamala Harris called the former president to congratulate him
Speaker 2: and offer their support for a peaceful transition of power.
Speaker 4: A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we
Speaker 4: lose an election, we accept the results.
Speaker 2: Trump won't take up office until January twenty next year,
Speaker 2: and there are a few things that will happen between
Speaker 2: now and then. He faces sentencing for his felony conviction
Speaker 2: for a start that's put down for November twenty six.
Speaker 2: A judge, though, could decide to throw it out before then.
Speaker 2: There are then some formalities like appointing some four thousand
Speaker 2: political positions in a new administration. And it'll be next
Speaker 2: year when the idea of tariffs will come to the fore,
Speaker 2: but it's something the rest of the world is already anticipating.
Speaker 2: On the campaign trial, Trump promised anywhere from ten to
Speaker 2: twenty percent tariffs on imports. So what does that mean
Speaker 2: for New Zealand exporters, especially given the US is one
Speaker 2: of our biggest trading partners. Today on the front page,
Speaker 2: Beef and Lamb and Z chair Kate Ackland is with
Speaker 2: us to discuss. But first we speak to nzed US
Speaker 2: Council Executive Director Fiona Cooper about our blossoming relationship with
Speaker 2: the United States and why we should probably all take
Speaker 2: a deep breath. First off, Fiona, what was your initial
Speaker 2: reaction to the US election result.
Speaker 4: Well, it's been a big build up and it was
Speaker 4: quite dramatic it. You know, we were watching all the
Speaker 4: polling of the polls and it became a very strong
Speaker 4: result for Trump. We went sure where we're even going
Speaker 4: to get a result on the night, So I guess
Speaker 4: that's one good thing is that there's a clear outcome
Speaker 4: and hopefully that paves the way for, you know, a
Speaker 4: smooth transition of power.
Speaker 2: What's our relationship with the United States like.
Speaker 4: Well, this is the very good thing is that we
Speaker 4: have an excellent relationship. It's been growing. You know, it's
Speaker 4: strong in terms of trade and it's strong right across
Speaker 4: the board. And New Zealand worked very well with President
Speaker 4: Trump's first administration, our Foreign Minister Winston Peters, he had
Speaker 4: strong relationships with his counterparts and he was very engaged
Speaker 4: with them. And in fact, I certainly am delighted to
Speaker 4: see that the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Peter's were
Speaker 4: quick to welcome the result last night and congratulate President
Speaker 4: Trump on his victory. I think that's good. So, you know,
Speaker 4: New Zealand's not starting from scratch. We have worked with
Speaker 4: Trump before and we look forward to working with them again.
Speaker 2: Well, the New Zealand US trade relationship topped twenty seven
Speaker 2: point five billion in twenty twenty three. That's no small feet, hey,
Speaker 2: And it's getting bigger and bigger every year, isn't it.
Speaker 4: Certainly it's now our second largest export market. It's valuable,
Speaker 4: it's growing, and that's a really good news story because
Speaker 4: New Zealand companies who export to the United States, they
Speaker 4: are well known for having high quality, innovative products that
Speaker 4: United States consumers want and that US businesses use in
Speaker 4: their manufacturing. So it's a really good news story. We'd
Speaker 4: like to see that continue and we look forward to
Speaker 4: sharing that story with the new administration.
Speaker 2: When it comes to tariffs, though, that's the thing that
Speaker 2: has been a stickler for basically every country in the world.
Speaker 2: When looking at the results and looking at this election,
Speaker 2: we actually don't know anything about them really yet, do
Speaker 2: we No.
Speaker 4: You know, there's not room for a lot of nuance
Speaker 4: in election campaigns, so all we've seen is very high
Speaker 4: level talk about imposing a universal tariff. But we don't
Speaker 4: have any details, and I would caution against speculating about
Speaker 4: the tariff policy until it's more fully formed. Trump won't
Speaker 4: be sworn in until the twentieth of January, so we're
Speaker 4: not going to find out the detail until after that.
Speaker 4: But the policy details do matter, and we'll be looking
Speaker 4: at it very closely once it's known. You know, the
Speaker 4: devil will be in the details. It's clear there will
Speaker 4: be implications for New Zealand, and it's something that we're
Speaker 4: really focused on.
Speaker 2: I noticed last month in an interview at the Economic
Speaker 2: Club of Chicago, Trump said, and I quote to me,
Speaker 2: the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. It
Speaker 2: needs a public relations FIM.
Speaker 1: We're going to.
Speaker 3: Bring the companies back. We're going to lower taxes so
Speaker 3: further for companies that are going to make their product
Speaker 3: in the USA, we're going to protect those companies with
Speaker 3: strong tariffs. To me, the most beautiful word in the
Speaker 3: dictionary is tariff, and it's my favorite word.
Speaker 2: What did you make of that statement.
Speaker 4: Well, I think New Zealand's trade policies has starts from
Speaker 4: quite a different angle. New Zealand has spent many years
Speaker 4: trying to remove tariffs. So that's his perspective, and that's
Speaker 4: a perspective that he's bringing. We have a different view,
Speaker 4: and we will certainly be reminding him of the value
Speaker 4: that New Zealand exports add to the United States market.
Speaker 2: Is there any possibility that New Zealand, given our notoriously
Speaker 2: good relationship with the US, could become exempt of a
Speaker 2: sweep of tariffs.
Speaker 4: Well, we just don't know. We just don't know, and
Speaker 4: it's probably not useful to speculate. I mean, we're in
Speaker 4: the same boat as all of the United States trading partners.
Speaker 4: You know, this is something that's going to affect everybody,
Speaker 4: and it's going to be top of mind for all
Speaker 4: the countries that partner with the United States. So I'm
Speaker 4: sure that New Zealand companies are thinking about what that
Speaker 4: possible impacts could be, But none of us can make
Speaker 4: an informed judgment about that until we see the detail.
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us for the owner. New Zealand has
Speaker 2: some of the best beef and lamb in the world,
Speaker 2: and it's not just us saying that the US is
Speaker 2: our biggest customer of beef products, bringing in one point
Speaker 2: seven billion dollars in the year to May. Beef and
Speaker 2: lamb and Z chair Kate Ackland is with us to
Speaker 2: discuss what tariffs could mean for this industry. So, Kate,
Speaker 2: first off, what was your initial reaction to the US
Speaker 2: election result?
Speaker 1: Well, Lewis, you know, it's a really important market for US.
Speaker 1: It's the largest market for beef and for lamb, so
Speaker 1: of course we were watching the results pretty closely.
Speaker 2: On the campaign trial I noticed Donald Trump promised either
Speaker 2: a ten or twenty percent tariff on all US imports,
Speaker 2: as well as a sixty percent levy on Chinese made products. Now,
Speaker 2: can you explain to us what that actually means?
Speaker 1: Well, you know, the president that made a lot of
Speaker 1: comments during campaign travel what that actually means in practice?
Speaker 1: That comes twenty to January when he's inaugurated. That remains fifteen.
Speaker 1: What we do know is that we've got really strong
Speaker 1: relationships with the US both across the sector but also
Speaker 1: with customers. And there's a really strong demand shrubber because
Speaker 1: our products are quite complimentary rather than a substitute for
Speaker 1: American beef and lamb. So these sects will stand up
Speaker 1: in really good stead going forward. But you know, essentially
Speaker 1: it's a wait and see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, economists worldwide have warned that these tariff
Speaker 2: plans could push the US import duty rates back up
Speaker 2: to nineteen thirties era levels. What does that mean?
Speaker 1: I think essentially New Zealand no extra confliments. You know,
Speaker 1: the lean beef that goes into things like McDonald's Bergers
Speaker 1: for example, actually complements the US production. So you know,
Speaker 1: any measures against New Zealand farmers will potentially impact US
Speaker 1: farmers as well. So now as I say that, it's
Speaker 1: very much a latency approach. Beef and lamb is a
Speaker 1: US or Washington, DC based trade relationship manager, so you
Speaker 1: through him, we're able to keep a really close eye
Speaker 1: on those issues as they arise.
Speaker 2: Right, So he's going to be pretty busy over the
Speaker 2: next few months and of course next year as well.
Speaker 1: Hey, yes he is, So you know we're keeping a
Speaker 1: really close eye through the US Trade and Relationship Manager,
Speaker 1: but also really close contact with New Zealand government officials
Speaker 1: over the next few months, just as we try and
Speaker 1: see some certainty.
Speaker 2: So the figures from STATS and Z show that in
Speaker 2: May a rise in exports was led by an increase
Speaker 2: in exports to the United States. It reached a billion
Speaker 2: dollars for the first time. Now the US is our
Speaker 2: second biggest export market, with an annual value of eight
Speaker 2: point eight billion for the year ending May twenty twenty four,
Speaker 2: behind only China seventeen point nine billion. In the year
Speaker 2: end of June, I noticed that NZ exported nearly two
Speaker 2: point five billion dollars of meat and edible offal to
Speaker 2: the US, which included nearly one point six billion alone
Speaker 2: of frozen beef. What could these kinds of tariffs anywhere
Speaker 2: from ten to twenty percent. What would that mean for
Speaker 2: New Zealand exports and especially New Zealand beef.
Speaker 1: Well, there's no doubt that the US is actually our
Speaker 1: largest market for red meat, for both beef and man.
Speaker 1: It's a really important market. Eighty five percent of what
Speaker 1: we export to the US is lean meat, and that's
Speaker 1: next the fatter US product ground beach. So it's really
Speaker 1: key ingredients in Hamburger, so there's really strong demand currently
Speaker 1: in New Zealand. It's got preferential access into the US
Speaker 1: through our WTY of country specific terraf front quota, and
Speaker 1: that makes us really competitive in the market in terms
Speaker 1: of what measures could be taken. As I said, it's
Speaker 1: worth fighting to see. We're keeping it really close on it,
Speaker 1: but I think it's too early to speculate.
Speaker 5: We have got to wait till the twentieth of January
Speaker 5: next year. Also, we have a very very strong case
Speaker 5: to make ourselves an exception because of the thinness of
Speaker 5: our market, the fact that we pay first world waged
Speaker 5: when first world conditions, and so we're not an exploit
Speaker 5: out of the country that you could bring those sorts
Speaker 5: of tariffs against without having evidence. And so in our
Speaker 5: case we're not overly confident, but we've got ourselves ready.
Speaker 2: In terms of what a tariff is, it's kind of
Speaker 2: like a levey or a duty fee to be able
Speaker 2: to export our meat or produce into the US. Have
Speaker 2: I got that right? Yes, you do. So.
Speaker 1: Under our WCO quoture, we currently pay a lower tariff
Speaker 1: than a lot of other countries. So we are export
Speaker 1: currently to attract ter it's just where that might go
Speaker 1: in the future. We do it not and so it's
Speaker 1: very much even as relationships strong.
Speaker 2: How devastating could a tariff like that be on our
Speaker 2: beef industry or would you just need to change tax
Speaker 2: and focus on another country and build that relationship up.
Speaker 1: Look, I mean New zeal One ridmate seats that we
Speaker 1: export to one hundred markets around the world, and you know,
Speaker 1: political dynamics change in those markets all the time. So
Speaker 1: we're really well experienced in dealing with the ambigulity and
Speaker 1: building strong relationships. But the advantage we have is we
Speaker 1: have really strong relationships in the US already is really
Speaker 1: strong demand for our product, so it's just going to
Speaker 1: be over the coming month just building on those relationships.
Speaker 2: Are there any other markets in the world that you
Speaker 2: would want a stronger relationship with?
Speaker 1: Well, Novelle has a great advantage in how well diversified
Speaker 1: our trade is. The US, says I said, is currently
Speaker 1: our biggest market. China is another big market, but various
Speaker 1: or successive governments have done a really great job of
Speaker 1: nego sharing some good trade guild So we've just seen
Speaker 1: the GCC come through in the last week. It's not
Speaker 1: a huge market for us, but it's a really good, strong,
Speaker 1: growing mark, so market diverisfication strategy as a company I
Speaker 1: think fits us really well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we've got to have some of the best
Speaker 2: beef in the world here.
Speaker 1: Hey, we absolutely have some of the best beef in
Speaker 1: the world and that growing recognition for grass fed beef
Speaker 1: is something that we're really pushing and trying to capitalize on.
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, Kate. That's it for this episode
Speaker 2: of The Front Page. You can read more about today's
Speaker 2: stories and extensive news coverage at enzherld dot co dot nz.
Speaker 2: The Front Page is produced by Ethan Siles with sound
Speaker 2: engineer Patti Fox. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to The Front
Speaker 2: Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and
Speaker 2: tune in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.