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India New Zealand Trade Deal: The problem that was emerging in the trade deal between India and America is that America wants India to open its dairy sector to foreign milk and dairy products, but India is against it. Now even in the FTA with New Zealand, India has refused to give exemption to the dairy sector. The government has considered dairy as a sensitive and politically important sector involving crores of farmers of the country.
New Delhi, The trade deal between India and America has not been finalized yet because the two countries did not agree on some major issues. The biggest dispute is over the dairy sector. America wants India to open its dairy market to American milk and milk products, which means reducing or eliminating import duty. But India did not agree to this. Now, in the trade deal that will be signed between New Zealand and India, the government has kept the interests of farmers at the forefront.
Let us tell you that India has not given any import duty concession on the dairy sector in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Zealand. On Monday, an official said that India has completely considered the dairy sector as ‘red line’, hence no duty relief was given in this sector. Both the countries have announced the completion of FTA negotiations. India has already been against large-scale dairy imports in every FTA. Dairy is one of the most sensitive and politically important issues in India, as the country is home to millions of small dairy farmers. On the other hand, New Zealand is one of the largest dairy exporters in the world. For this reason, India has always been cautious about opening the dairy sector.
New Zealand’s dairy export to India
At present the dairy trade between India and New Zealand is very less. New Zealand’s dairy exports to India in FY2025 were only 1.07 million USD. This included milk and cream 0.40 million USD, natural honey 0.32 million USD, mozzarella cheese 0.18 million USD, butter 0.09 million USD and skimmed milk 0.08 million USD.
These goods may become cheaper after trade deal
After the Free Trade Agreement between India and New Zealand, some things may become cheaper in India. New Zealand sends a lot of raw materials to India, which is essential for the Indian manufacturing industry. The largest share in this is wood and its related products. New Zealand imports large quantities of logs, sawn timber and wood pulp, which are needed for furniture, paper making and infrastructure projects. If the import duty on these products decreases after FTA, then things like furniture and paper can become cheaper in the domestic market.
India’s economy will boom
New Zealand has made this agreement in view of India’s growing economic strength. The government believes that by 2030, India’s economy will reach about 12 trillion New Zealand dollars (about ₹ 627 lakh crore). The talks on this trade agreement between India and New Zealand were stuck for 10 years, but the discussions started again in March this year and the agreement was finalized in just 9 months.
