New Zealand Parliament passes trade deal with India
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Wednesday said his country's Parliament has passed the "landmark" free trade agreement with India, which is expected to come into force next month.
"People told me a Free Trade Agreement with India wasn't possible. Well, today that deal passed its final vote in Parliament. It's happening," Luxon said in a social media post.
He said the agreement would create more jobs and higher incomes for New Zealanders while opening the Indian market to New Zealand products.
India and New Zealand signed the trade pact on April 27 after concluding negotiations in December 2025.
Under the agreement, 100 per cent of India's exports to New Zealand will receive duty-free access, covering products across all tariff lines, including textiles, apparel, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery, engineering goods and processed foods.
New Zealand currently maintains peak tariffs of up to 10 per cent on some key Indian exports, including ceramics, carpets, automobiles and auto components.
India, meanwhile, has offered tariff liberalisation on 70 per cent of tariff lines covering 95 per cent of the value of bilateral trade, while keeping 29.97 per cent of product categories outside the agreement.
The excluded products include dairy items such as milk, cream, whey, yoghurt and cheese; animal products other than sheep meat; agricultural goods such as onions, chana, peas, corn and almonds; sugar and artificial honey; certain animal, vegetable and microbial fats and oils; arms and ammunition; and specified copper and aluminium products.
India will provide duty-free access to several New Zealand goods, including wooden logs, coking coal, metal waste and scrap, wood, sheep meat and raw hides.
Tariffs on petroleum oil, malt extract, vegetable oils, select electrical and mechanical machinery and peptones will be reduced in phases over three, five, seven and 10 years.
New Zealand products including wine, pharmaceutical drugs, polymers, aluminium and iron and steel articles will also benefit from tariff reductions.
For products such as Manuka honey, apples, kiwi fruit and albumins, including milk albumin, India has offered quota-based duty concessions along with minimum import price and other safeguards.
The agreement also provides India market access commitments from New Zealand in about 118 services sectors, including computer-related services, professional services, audiovisual, telecommunications, construction, education, environmental, financial, tourism and travel services.
It establishes a temporary employment entry visa pathway for Indian professionals in skilled occupations, with a quota of 5,000 visas at any given time and a stay of up to three years.
New Zealand has also created a dedicated pathway for student mobility and post-study work visas for Indians, the first such arrangement it has entered into with any country.
The pact includes a foreign direct investment commitment from New Zealand of USD 20 billion over 15 years. It is the second such FDI commitment secured by India through a trade agreement, after the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) bloc committed USD 100 billion over 15 years.
In India, FTAs signed by New Delhi with other countries or blocs require approval by the Union Cabinet.
Total India-New Zealand trade in goods and services stood at USD 2.4 billion in 2024.
Bilateral merchandise trade declined by about 11 per cent to USD 1.15 billion in 2025-26 from USD 1.3 billion in 2024-25. India's exports stood at USD 566.51 million and imports at USD 589.1 million during 2025-26.
