Election 2026: National promises to chase seven new trade deals
Sunday, 5 July 2026
Hot off the heels of inking a free-trade agreement with India, the National Party is promising to chase deals with seven new countries if re-elected.
Leader Christopher Luxon has committed to “commence negotiations” with Brazil, Switzerland, Argentina, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Uruguay and the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) within the next five years.
He said the plan was ambitious but National had already proved its sceptics wrong by securing a free trade agreement (FTA) with India this term, as he’d promised on the 2023 election campaign.
“We did a high quality deal fast because we know what we're doing and we have confidence about how to do commercial deals well,” he told reporters at Sunday’s announcement at the Port of Auckland.
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“Any other country, go talk to them, and they've asked a lot of questions of us in recent times about how did we pull off such a high-quality deal with India. So, now’s the next phase.”
The campaign pledge comes a week out from the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in Auckland.
It also challenges weeks of public criticism about the deal from National’s coalition partner NZ First, which has accused National of misleading Modi’s government over the deals’ immigration settings.
The Post reported on Thursday the Government had made decisions to tighten immigration settings for Indian nationals but was worried about this news going public before Modi’s upcoming visit.
Modi has touted his country’s immigration gains in the deal, though it’s NZ First leader Winston Peters’ position both sides are on different pages about the outcomes.
Speaking alongside Luxon on Sunday, Trade Minister Todd McClay said New Zealand would meet all its obligations under its FTA with India.
“There is no reason for people to be concerned.”
He said final decisions on changes to immigration setting changes had not been made, but “there is a new visa being created for India that no one else in the world will have and it's based upon that negotiation.”
National’s trade policy identifies six markets for a second tranche of efforts – South Africa, Turkey, Colombia, Morocco, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.
Luxon said New Zealand needed to trade with more countries to “create more optionality” and shore up its economic future.
“What could be more important in a very volatile and uncertain world than having the security of free trade agreements that deliver for Kiwis?”
National’s campaign trade promise includes negotiating new essential supplies agreements with like-minded partners, deals similar to the “food for fuel” Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies (AOTES ) with Singapore.
It also wants to expand paperless trade and digital customs, saying it would eliminate $1 billion in non-tariff barriers.
National has also pledged to create new tools for businesses to help streamline their export experience and giving New Zealand Trade and Enterprise a “sharper” mandate “leading Kiwi businesses to new opportunities and backing the next generation of exporters.”
The party said, if re-elected, it would complete at least 23 trade missions over the next term, with a greater focus on sector-specific missions and measurable commercial outcomes.
It also re-affirmed its commitment to doubling the value of exports by 2034.