Taiwan has signed a trade agreement with New Zealand despite trying to iron out a similar deal with Singapore for the last few years with no joy yet.
Signed on Wednesday 10 July, the agreement is significant as it is the first time Taipei has signed a contract with a non-allied country.
Negotiations have been progressing since last year and the deal will see tariff duties eliminated on as much as 70% of Taiwan’s imports from New Zealand.
The country is expected to become New Zealand’s eighth biggest export market. Local media outlets reported the value of exports to the Asian island is set to grow by $606m (€464m), while the value of goods travelling the opposite way is set to increase by $624m.
Taiwan had been expected to announce a trade agreement with Singapore, given that negotiations have been going on between the two states for three years and it was the country’s fifth-largest trade partner last year.
Although New Zealand is not a dominant global economy, the deal could be a path to lessen Taiwan's dependence on mainland China, which claims ownership of the state.
Manufactured goods are expected to be the main export from Taiwan to New Zealand, accounting for 29% of the trade. Following this is refined fuels (26%) and transport equipment (23%).
Trade the other way is to be dominated by food products, which make up three-quarters of the nation’s exports.
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