[Source: Reuters]

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he will be talking to other world leaders by phone to discuss how to shore up rules-based free trade, in the face of a barrage of U.S. tariffs.

International trade has been upended by U.S. President Donald Trump who announced sweeping tariffs last week on dozens of countries, which were met by retaliatory tariffs by many of them, triggering massive volatility in markets.

In a stunning reversal, on Wednesday Trump said he would temporarily suspend the hefty tariffs he had imposed on most countries.

Luxon said he would be speaking with world leaders later on Thursday to compare notes on global trade and test what they can do together to buttress the rules-based trading system.

A spokesperson could not give any details on which leaders Luxon would be talking to or when the call or calls would take place.

New Zealand would continue to work with like-minded countries to promote free trade as a path to prosperity and explore the role of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in strengthening that vision, Luxon said in a speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

“One possibility is that members of the CPTPP and the European Union work together to champion rules-based trade and make specific commitments on how that support plays out in practice,” he said in a speech.

Luxon added he was heading to the United Kingdom later in April to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to talk trade, security, and the geopolitical.

“We can’t make the case for New Zealand sitting at home,” he said.

“We have to position ourselves as advocates both for our own economic interests and the institutions that underpin them.”

Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on New Zealand, the low end of his tariffs for all imports into the United States. Wellington has said it would not retaliate. About 12% of New Zealand’s exports went to the U.S. last year.

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