The end of free digital trade and other 2024 trade dilemmas

Todd McClay will be vice-chair at the upcoming WTO ministerial conference. (Image: NZME)

Fri, 09 Feb 2024

In a sign of the times, some of New Zealand’s first actions on trade are likely to be more about stopping the world from backsliding into slapping on more tariffs than liberalising it. NZ’s trade minister, Todd McClay, is set to be vice-chair of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi from Feb 26-29. One item at the top of the agenda is likely to be the expiration of a moratorium on digital services tariffs traded across borders, which affects digital service exporting...

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