Make It Up!
PM Chris Luxon can't seem to buy a trick when it comes to the polls, particularly for his own approval rating as preferred Prime Minister.
US president-elect Donald Trump has the powers, delegated by Congress, to wreak havoc on international trade, says trade expert Stephen Jacobi.
The question is “will he use them?” Jacobi asks.
“The impacts and choices for New Zealand under a Trump presidency are unclear at best,” says Jacobi, a former diplomat who is executive director of the NZ International Business Forum and also on the NZ China Council.
“In the short term, I find it hard to see a way through for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the ‘lame duck’ session,” he says.
“Longer term, the issues behind TPP (market access, better trade rules, actions to promote investment and reducing the costs of doing business) will all need to be addressed.”
Going forward, it’s all about policy, people and the president himself, he says.
“On policies, what will be the approach to trade agreements and what will be the new normal in the US relationship with China?”
Jacobi says it remains to be seen whether Trump really will rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between US, Canada and Mexico.
“What about multilateral agreements like the WTO and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change? “On people, who will advise Trump on trade? Will the Republican establishment come back to serve in a Trump administration?
“On the president, how will his unpredictable and abrasive nature play into global policy?”
New Zealand's citrus growers were challenged to build their future on the value embedded in their fruit rather than the volume they produce, at Citrus New Zealand's annual gathering in Gisborne on 17 September.
Leading John Deere technicians and apprentices from New Zealand and Australians were recognised at the recent sixth annual JD Technician of the Year Awards, held in Brisbane.
In Dacre, near Invercargill in New Zealand’s South Island, Bruce Dinnington is running a dairy operation unlike any other.
A free online platform aggregating governance vacancies across rural and regional New Zealand has been launched.
Environment Minister Nicola Grigg has announced details of a new rural plastics recycling scheme.
Agricultural drone operators say that a government decision to allow lower-risk drone work without certification won’t lower standards but drive innovation and efficiency.

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