From day one, 57% of New Zealand’s current exports to India will become tariff-free, eventually rising to 82%, with forestry, sheep meat, wool, seafood, horticulture, wine and manuka honey among those benefiting.
But a lot more hides in the agreement than tariffs. It includes the equivalent of 1,667 three-year temporary employment visas for Indian workers each year, capped at 5,000 people at any one time, along with 1,000 working holiday places annually and provisions covering Indian students and post-study work rights.
The deal will also lift the screening threshold for qualifying investment from India in significant New Zealand business assets to $200 million and commits New Zealand to promoting US$20 billion in private-sector investment into India over 15 years. It also included commitments for electronic payments and greater links between the two countries’ payment infrastructure.
That’s significant given the Reserve Bank is currently considering the future of New Zealand’s payment system while continuing work on a possible central bank digital currency. The FTA does not commit New Zealand to a CBDC necessarily, but India, with its extensive digital public infrastructure and Unified Payments Interface, has been held up as a model.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s major dairy exports to India were largely outside the tariff cuts.
Sovereign NZ co-founder Joshua Riley said the “impossible” trade deal included uncappable visas, horticulture IP transfer and a $36 billion foreign direct investment promise to India. ”At just 2% of the China FTA’s increased trade, the India FTA’s net $390M new trade is a failure with absurd, detrimental concessions,” he said.
NZ First leader Winston Peters has called the deal “neither free nor fair,” arguing New Zealand has made significant concessions without securing enough access for dairy, its biggest export industry.
The FTA will come into force after both countries complete their remaining ratification procedures.
Daily Telegraph New Zealand (DTNZ) is an independent news website, first published in October 2021. - where this article was sourced.
But a lot more hides in the agreement than tariffs. It includes the equivalent of 1,667 three-year temporary employment visas for Indian workers each year, capped at 5,000 people at any one time, along with 1,000 working holiday places annually and provisions covering Indian students and post-study work rights.
The deal will also lift the screening threshold for qualifying investment from India in significant New Zealand business assets to $200 million and commits New Zealand to promoting US$20 billion in private-sector investment into India over 15 years. It also included commitments for electronic payments and greater links between the two countries’ payment infrastructure.
That’s significant given the Reserve Bank is currently considering the future of New Zealand’s payment system while continuing work on a possible central bank digital currency. The FTA does not commit New Zealand to a CBDC necessarily, but India, with its extensive digital public infrastructure and Unified Payments Interface, has been held up as a model.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s major dairy exports to India were largely outside the tariff cuts.
Sovereign NZ co-founder Joshua Riley said the “impossible” trade deal included uncappable visas, horticulture IP transfer and a $36 billion foreign direct investment promise to India. ”At just 2% of the China FTA’s increased trade, the India FTA’s net $390M new trade is a failure with absurd, detrimental concessions,” he said.
NZ First leader Winston Peters has called the deal “neither free nor fair,” arguing New Zealand has made significant concessions without securing enough access for dairy, its biggest export industry.
The FTA will come into force after both countries complete their remaining ratification procedures.
Daily Telegraph New Zealand (DTNZ) is an independent news website, first published in October 2021. - where this article was sourced.
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