'Only time will tell' what impact US midterm results will have on NZ trade – Jacinda Ardern

November 8, 2018

The makeup of the House “may frustrate the current President’s agenda,” Jacinda Ardern said.

Jacinda Ardern says "only time will tell" if the US midterm elections will impact New Zealand's trade. 

It comes after the Democrats took back the House, breaking the GOP's monopoly on power in Washington .

When asked if the US midterm result would have an impact on the country's trade relationship with New Zealand, Ms Ardern said there was "no question, in terms of the political make up now and the landscape, that may frustrate the current President's agenda". 

"But I think only time will tell the degree to which that will have any effect on his plans around trade."

President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in November, 2016. Now called the CPTPP, the partnership which includes New Zealand has created impending trade deals, set to soon come into force. 

The Republicans have managed to maintain control of the Senate.

The Trump administration looked at rejoining the deal in April, however it was said to be "extremely difficult" for US to rejoin at that stage, Japan's minister in charge of the TPP was reported saying in the Washington Post. 

Ms Ardern said it was "imperative" that a strong relationship with the US remains. 

"We of course focus on New Zealand's best interest, regardless of who is in office, regardless of what the House looks like."

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