“Continuing to be supporters and reinforcers of the rules-based trading system is in the interest of both of our countries as members of the CPTPP,” she added. “Seeking to work with like-minded countries to reinforce that rules-based approach is in our interests.”
Negotiators from the EU and CPTPP nations will sit down later this year, Willis said, as they work to find “alignment” between Brussels’ trade deals with various members of the bloc and the Pacific pact.
Brussels and the Pacific bloc will then “seek ways to reinforce those because there’s a shared view that having those rules-based agreements, and having consistency in them, and having enforceability of them is in our shared interests,” Willis said.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Christopher Luxon, has been fronting proposals for CPTPP to link arms with the EU to champion rules-based trade in response to Trump’s tariff wars since early this year, when he pitched European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on the idea in April.
At the start of this month, the White House imposed 15 percent tariffs on New Zealand — a similar rate to those facing the EU — as part of the president’s Aug. 1 “Liberation Day” tariffs on multiple nations.
The White House’s tariff formula is “difficult” for small nations with trade surpluses with the U.S. to overcome, said Willis.
Wellington’s Trade Minister Todd McClay will head to Washington this month for negotiations with hopes of lowering tariffs on Aotearoan imports.
“That doesn’t mean that we then have expectations that the tariff rate will change overnight,” Willis said. “That blunt reality that we are in surplus is a difficult one to overcome.”