International trade: rules-based and NZ Interests.
From Crash@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, February 08, 2026 17:40:29
King Trump is destroying the system that advantages NZ and similar
small trading nations. Wielding unlimited power to access the
domestic USA market (the size of which is internationally significant)
via arbitrary setting of Tariff rates, means that small countries like
NZ live in fear of economic retribution from Trump.
Should we be careful with political confrontation with the USA (ie
call out Trump the bully on Greenland and the Ukraine etc.) because we
might get punitive USA tariffs imposed, or should we do the right
thing politically in the expectation that NZ Exporters can find
alternative markets for stuff we export to the USA, and at the same or
better returns?
I would be happy to do the right thing and call out Trump as Canadian
PM Carney has. However I have no skin in exporters who rely on the
USA market.