India, New Zealand boost trade diversification with ‘forward-looking’ pact

The deal, which comes after 15 years of on-and-off negotiations, gained urgency in recent weeks as Indian exporters contend with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and steep American tariffs that have rattled supply chains.

New Zealand for its part has been pursuing a strategy to reduce dependence on China, its largest trading partner, to mitigate risks caused by overconcentration in a single market, particularly as Beijing’s economic growth slows. Australia

and the United States are Auckland’s next largest trading partners.

For New Delhi, the New Zealand deal comes ahead of a preliminary trade pact with Washington that was due to be sealed last month, but has since been put off because of confusion over the US Supreme Court ruling that outlawed a swathe of import tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and the US-Iran war which has overshadowed other policy matters.

India signed a free-trade agreement with the European Union earlier this year and another with the United Kingdom last year.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and visiting New Zealand Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay signed the new pact on Monday.