James Skinner
James is the Founder & Chief Executive of
CANZUK International in Vancouver, Canada
New Zealand will “intensify” free trade talks with the United Kingdom in the coming weeks with the aim of securing a comprehensive trade agreement that could set the stage for future CANZUK arrangements.
Trade Ministers Damien O’Connor (NZ) and Liz Truss (UK) spoke on Wednesday evening and agreed to accelerate negotiations in the hope of settling a NZ-UK Free Trade Agreement “in the coming months”.
“Teams will now intensify talks, with chief negotiators meeting monthly and the next formal rounds of talks scheduled for early June and July,” said O’Connor in a statement issued after the call.
New Zealand is now hoping to emulate the success of the trade negotiations conducted between the UK and Australia, whereby negotiations were conducted virtually and in person with intentions to finalize at the G7 summit in June.
The UK began negotiating a deal with Australia on the same day as New Zealand in June 2020, and has been eager to close the bilateral deals to set a template for how it will advance trade arrangements in the future.
The UK is New Zealand’s sixth largest trading partner, with two-way trade nearing $6 billion in 2019.
Negotiators completed a fourth round of talks on the free trade deal last week, with Truss stating that, “excellent progress was made on issues relating to trade and development across the agreement”.
On Tuesday, British High Commissioner to New Zealand, Laura Clarke, also said in a statement that the progress was “a testament to the real momentum on both sides to agree an ambitious deal”.
CANZUK International looks forward to the finalized trade deal between the UK and New Zealand, and the provisions therein which will provide a platform upon which free movement and trade across all CANZUK countries can develop.
“Teams will now intensify talks, with chief negotiators meeting monthly and the next formal rounds of talks scheduled for early June and July,” said O’Connor in a statement issued after the call.
New Zealand is now hoping to emulate the success of the trade negotiations conducted between the UK and Australia, whereby negotiations were conducted virtually and in person with intentions to finalize at the G7 summit in June.
The UK began negotiating a deal with Australia on the same day as New Zealand in June 2020, and has been eager to close the bilateral deals to set a template for how it will advance trade arrangements in the future.
The UK is New Zealand’s sixth largest trading partner, with two-way trade nearing $6 billion in 2019.
Negotiators completed a fourth round of talks on the free trade deal last week, with Truss stating that, “excellent progress was made on issues relating to trade and development across the agreement”.
On Tuesday, British High Commissioner to New Zealand, Laura Clarke, also said in a statement that the progress was “a testament to the real momentum on both sides to agree an ambitious deal”.
CANZUK International looks forward to the finalized trade deal between the UK and New Zealand, and the provisions therein which will provide a platform upon which free movement and trade across all CANZUK countries can develop.
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