New Zealand and South Korea have struck a free-trade deal allowing more students from the Asian nation to live and work in the South Pacific island nation, in return for improved access for farm exports.
The agreement announced at the weekend between the two nations, which trade about US$3.2 billion in goods each year, is expected to enable New Zealand to compete better with other nations in its sixth-largest export market.
“The free-trade agreement will put New Zealand exporters back on a level playing field with competitors from [South] Korea’s other free-trade agreement partners, such as the US, Chile and the EU,” New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said in a statement.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement that the deal would improve access for South Koreans, mostly students, to service-sector jobs and learning opportunities in New Zealand.
The deal provides for the eventual elimination of limited remaining tariffs on South Korea’s top exports to New Zealand, including fuel, vehicles and machinery, as well as iron and steel products and home appliances.
The deal comes just after South Korea “effectively” reached an agreement with China last week to lower or remove tariffs on mostly goods trade between the industrial giants.
New Zealand exported around US$1.6 billion in farm products and industrial goods to the Asian nation in the past year, while importing about a similar value in refined oil, cars and electronic equipment.
About two-thirds of New Zealand’s exports are logs, dairy, meat and other soft commodities, which are marketed as being produced in a clean, natural environment.
Meat exporters yesterday welcomed the agreement, as it would eventually phase out a 40 percent tariff on New Zealand products versus US products, which are taxed at 32 percent and are decreasing under a trade deal signed in 2012.
“We’re now at a tariff disadvantage with the US, which has made it very difficult for importers of grass-fed New Zealand beef, who are starting to get priced out of the market,” said James Parsons, chairman of industry body Beef and Lamb New Zealand.
New Zealand shipped US$110.3 million in meat products to South Korea last year, including short ribs popular for barbecue dishes, making it the nation’s fourth-largest export to the country.
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