US President Donald Trump has imposed controversial orders imposing heavy tariffs on steel and aluminium - but some countries will be spared reports RadioNZ this morning.

Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker has signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Santiago, Chile.

Mar 09, 2018  -  Access to Japan for New Zealand fruit is one of the big wins for horticulture from today’s signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific (CPTPP), says Mike Chapman, chief executive of Horticulture New Zealand, who is in Chile for the event.

Mar 09, 2018  -  ExportNZ is celebrating the signing of CPTPP in Chile overnight.  ExportNZ Executive Director Catherine Beard says in the context of US protectionist moves and threats of global trade wars, the CPTPP is an exemplar of countries working together for open and free trade.

Mar 08, 2018  - According to the Changzhou Entry-Exit Inspection & Quarantine Bureau, a batch of 1,319 boxes of fruit puree from New Zealand has successfully passed the quarantine examination and has arrived in the Chinese markets.

New Zealand is interested in strengthening economic ties with the Mercosur trading bloc, says Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker.

Mar 07, 2018  - For the past two years, the Samoa Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has been in discussions with the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries through its bilateral Quarantine Agreement meetings. Now there is finally an outcome that will see Samoa’s banana exports developing and growing again, although under strict New Zealand import bio security requirements.

Beijing-based economist Rodney Jones argues in an article on Newsroom today, New Zealand should have a robust debate about its relations with China under President-for-life Xi Jinping, and should be less afraid of any reaction in China to that debate. 

Mar 06, 2018  -  A new shipping service for Northland's $40 million kiwifruit industry will take more than 500 truck and trailers trips off the road south of Whangarei and increase profits for the region's growers.

Starting May this year, Northland's kiwifruit will be able to travel directly to Singapore from Northland, via a new service being trialled out of Northport, at Marsden Pt, by the Mediterranean Shipping Company.

The Geneva-based company has announced its container vessels will stop at Northport to load Zespri kiwifruit and other locally grown produce every fortnight.

The new service is called "Kiwi Express" in a nod to its major target crop.

According to an article on nzherald.co.nz, Northland produces around three and a half million trays of kiwifruit a year, which equates to about 13,000 pallets and is worth around $40 million. The volume of trays is expected to double in the next three years.

| A FreshPlaza release ||  March 06, 2018   |||

Trump is is coming under intense pressure from US business interests, foreign trading partners and international trade organisations to pull back from his tariff plan.