Trade and Investment Minister, Todd McClay, has responded to the US Supreme Court ruling on ‘Liberation Day tariffs’ announcement overnight, saying it has the potential to be important for NZ exporters, but warns considerable uncertainty is likely to remain.
The majority Court ruling deemed US President Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally set and change tariffs as unconstitutional.
“Our exports have been holding up well in the US market since the Administration imposed a 15% tariff on New Zealand, with evidence that in many cases cost increases are being passed on,” said Mr McClay.
“Any reduction in tariffs is welcome news. New Zealand does not believe the 15% tariff imposed on many of our exporters is warranted given the average tariff rate applied to US goods into New Zealand is just 0.3%.
“Our Embassy in Washington will engage with their counterparts to get more information so we can continue to work with exporters, however uncertainty around US tariff policy is likely to remain for an extended period of time.”
