Dalziel Announces Deferral Of Tariff Review

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com

22 April 2008

Import tariffs will be held at their 1st July, 2009 levels until 30th June, 2011 and a decision on the timing of any further review of import tariff levels will be made in mid-2009, New Zealand's Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel announced on Tuesday.

"New Zealand businesses, and particularly manufacturers, need certainty about tariff levels over the next three years so they can make well-informed operational and investment decisions," Ms Dalziel explained, adding:

"We're not going to make decisions on the timing of any further tariff review until mid 2009, in light of the trade negotiations currently underway."

Dalziel explained that it made sense to defer the timing of any further unilateral tariff review until there was more clarity around the outcomes of key comprehensive trade agreements that New Zealand is negotiating, such as the FTA with ASEAN member countries, and the multilateral WTO Doha Round.

There has been significant acceleration of New Zealand’s trade negotiations agenda in recent years, with free trade agreements already concluded with Singapore,Chile, Brunei and Thailand and negotiations completed with China.

Free trade agreement negotiations continue with a number of partners, notably the ASEAN member countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council states. By mid-2009, there may be more certainty around whether other key FTA negotiations are likely to proceed.

The last scheduled unilateral reduction of tariffs takes place on 1st July, 2009 when the highest tariffs (mainly on clothing, footwear and carpet) will be reduced to 10%.

From 1st July 2008, remaining tariffs, on a range of mainly manufactured goods, will be reduced to 5%.

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