APEC Summit: NZ puts best foot forward ahead of Trump taking office

Analysis - World leaders gathering in Peru for the APEC Summit are all too aware the election of Donald Trump has shifted the dial on trade for exporting nations.

With just a couple of months to go until the Republicans are in charge, New Zealand is promptly putting its best foot forward and looking to maximise on any future benefits there might be.

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters had already sent a congratulatory note to Trump's pick for Secretary of State - Marco Rubio.

While he was yet to be confirmed in the role, Peters believed he would be and told RNZ in an interview in Peru on Friday NZT that he was not sitting around and waiting.

"I'm looking forward to meeting him before too long," he said.

The United States will be high on New Zealand's priority list to travel to next year.

It has been only a week since the election that saw Trump secure a second term in the White House and Peters said: "You kind of sense that a whole lot of countries are saying the scene has changed, and what does it mean for all including, dare I say it, New Zealand?"

Peters said protectionism had been growing for a while now globally, so a shift in that direction by Trump would not be all that new.

"Nobody should be surprised by that, we just need to get our heads around it, and have the right policies to properly react to it."

Trade Minister Todd McClay, who was also in Lima for the ministerial meetings at APEC ahead of the prime minister's arrival at the weekend, noted countries have put up barriers many times before.

"The world has always looked to protect itself at different times, during Covid we saw barriers go up, during the GFC, when I was minister last, countries put barriers up," McClay said.

"As an export nation it's never easy for us, there's always barriers and we produce things that are protected elsewhere.

"There is likely to be from time-to-time tariff rates put in place. It goes against what New Zealand believes is best for growing economies but individual countries under trade law have the ability to do that."

McClay said New Zealand would keep advocating for fewer rules but tariffs were a tool countries had but warning, however, they should be used infrequently.

Following the US election, Peters said political leaders at APEC - where the focus is trade - were looking at things with "a greater sense of curiosity as to what it all means".

What it meant for New Zealand was diversifying its trading relationships with economies that make the most sense and Peters said the coalition would be looking to up its game in Southeast Asia.

McClay was equally focused on that part of the world, saying for once, New Zealand's isolation was a good thing.

"Southeast Asia is a huge opportunity for New Zealand. Geographically we're isolated but for the first time in history it's an advantage because we're close to the fastest growing economies in the world and we have a good relationship with them."

He also planned to visit India again next year, where Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was chasing a free trade agreement this term after promising during the campaign last year to get one across the line.

There was also plenty of opportunity to upgrade existing FTAs.

And then there is China - New Zealand's largest trading partner.

Luxon has confirmed he will visit next year - Peters said it was a case of getting something in the calendar that works.

McClay was in China with a business delegation just last week, at the time Trump was declared the next President. He said any blanket tariffs, as proposed by the incoming President, would be bad news for the whole world.

That meant summits like APEC were more crucial than ever.

"Countries are saying there's headwinds and it's hard for our exporters so what can we do together to give greater certainty, and the fact we're engaged in those conversations is important for New Zealand."