New Zealand has a long history of innovation in trade policy. Whether it be ensuring access to the United Kingdom market, the creation of CER, or the development of the CPTPP, New Zealand trade policy has been pivotal. New Zealand needs to keep this up since the protectionist jungle is growing back.
The good news is that we can and have responded to our trade policy challenges. New Zealand, along with like-minded countries, have a vested interest in trade to support their standard of living; thus, they have a huge stake in developing innovative ways of integrating further. Two areas where we can cooperate are the alignment of standards and the further development of paperless trade. Both initiatives have the ability to increase trade and improve its efficiency.
In this report, we consider how New Zealand can respond to its trade policy challenges.