When Trump was elected last year I promised myself that I wouldn’t concentrate on international politics that much this time around. While yes, I am no longer on Twitter or TikTok any more and barely on Facebook, it’s hard to ignore the collapse of a superpower into authoritarianism. It’s the kind of thing that invites comment.
My boycott is going well. I don’t miss Amazon, Adobe is slated to end next month and I don’t subscribe to Amazon Prime any more.
For New Zealand I think the rubber is going to meet the road on 2 April (3 April our time). Trump is calling it “Liberation Day”. That’s when the Trump administration is announcing global tariffs on a country-by-country basis. Even in the absence of a free trade agreement, the United States is our second largest export partner. A smidge ahead of Australia and a fair way behind China.
The risk is severe enough that in February Minter Ellison Rudd Watts outlined steps NZ exporters should take and Winston Peters returns from a diplomatic mission to the United States today.
Tariffs there will hurt us. And I don’t know whether Luxon and the rest of the government have the mettle to retaliate in a reciprocal manner should they be applied. Trump considers value added taxes like GST as a form of tariff and I fear his administration will act to that effect.
I guess we’ll find out in two weeks. But I think we need to brace ourselves for our exports to take a hit. At least we won’t be alone in it.