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Address by the Hon Tim Groser, Minister of Trade and Minister of Climate Change Issues: US/NZ Partnership Forum, Auckland 30 June 2015 I would like to thank our two co-chairs, the Hon Simon Power, Chair of the NZ-US Council and Stu Van Soyoc, President of the US-based counterpart organisation for assuming joint responsibility for the Partnership Forum. I think it …

Today in Auckland the US NZ Partnership Forum gathers for the sixth time. The event brings together a number of senior representatives from Government, business and academia from both New Zealand and the United States. Our American guests include Assistant Secretary of State Danny Russel and Congressman Erik Paulsen (R-Minnesota). Significant progress has been made since the first Partnership Forum was …

Mayor Len Brown and Councillors Bill Cashmore and Denise Krum led a delegation of 43 Auckland businesses to the inaugural Tripartite Economic Alliance Summit in Los Angeles. “Auckland is New Zealand’s only global city and we are fast becoming a significant innovation hub in the Asia-Pacific region. The summit gives us the chance to build our trade and economic relations; to create exciting export opportunities …

Fonterra Cooperative Group had twice as many farms offer to supply milk for a guaranteed price for the upcoming season than last season amid uncertainty about when global milk prices will recover. A total of 45.2 million kilograms of milk solids was offered by 443 farms, exceeding the 40 million kgMS available under the guaranteed price, the Auckland-based milk processor said in a …

The Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) is firm in its view that a good deal on dairy in TPP is necessary for any deal to stack up for New Zealand. “The facts are that dairy accounts for 35% of NZ exports. You can’t even come close to achieving an acceptable deal for New Zealand without a good deal …

The United States is likely to try and force the pace of negotiations to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the next few weeks, following a vote in the US Senate last night that all but ensures President Barack Obama will gain so-called ‘fast track’ authority to complete the controversial agreement. One more Senate vote is expected overnight tonight, New Zealand …

Jane Kelsey is damning ‘unprecedented procedural machinations and an unholy alliance with the Republicans’  as enabling Barack Obama a super-majority to advance fast track authority in the US Senate by a single vote.   The University of Auckland law professor reckons “the damage to relations between the President and his core Democrat constituency may be irrecoverable, making the content of any …

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact does not yet include an acceptable deal on access for New Zealand’s most important exports, dairy products, with little more than a month to go before the controversial 12 nation trade deal could be concluded. “I think the way I would describe it is there’s a deal. It’s probably not at the level that we would …

Landcorp Farming, New Zealand’s largest corporate farmer, said it doesn’t need to downgrade earnings guidance in the wake of falling dairy prices, after sheltering from volatility by locking in a guaranteed price at the start of the season. Dairy product prices slipped in this week’s GlobalDairyTrade auction to the weakest level in almost six years. State-owned Landcorp in October cut its forecast for this year’s …

Milford Asset Management has dropped veteran portfolio manager Mark Warminger from the investment team for its funds under management, according to an amended prospectus issued the same day it agreed to a $1.5 million settlement with the Financial Markets Authority over market manipulation. The amended prospectus, for the firm’s fundraising arm, Milford Funds Ltd, has been changed to show director and …