Trade and agriculture

New Zealand and Australia have an FTA known as the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement. It is one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching free trade agreements in the world, effectively creating a single market of around 24 million people. Over the 20 years of its operation, CER has helped bring about a
500 percent increase in economic activity between Australia and New Zealand.

The United States is New Zealand’s third largest source of agricultural imports. It is New Zealand’s premium provider of animal feed and is a significant supplier of farm machinery, fertilizer, insecticides and animal pharmaceuticals.

Many New Zealand agricultural exporters have developed cooperative and mutually beneficial relationships with United States counterparts, including joint ventures with agricultural producers and manufacturers.

While New Zealand exports most of its agricultural product the volume of its overall output is very small. For instance, New Zealand’s total beef production is only about one twentieth of that of the United States.

New Zealand is well known as an efficient producer of dairy products, but it is less known that the volumes involved are small. The United States produces around 15 percent of the world’s cows milk, but New Zealand produces just 2.5 percent. Each year the United States produces about 12 times as much cheese as New Zealand.

New Zealand farmers do not receive any subsidies from the government.