Christopher Luxon promotes NZ as ‘champion for free trade’ as he heads to UK amid global uncertainty

• Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is flying to the United Kingdom this weekend.
• He will meet with key figures, including King Charles and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
• It comes against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty due to US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is promoting New Zealand as a “champion for free trade” as he heads to the United Kingdom after global turbulence caused by United States President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff regime.

Luxon flies to London on Saturday for his first official visit to the UK as PM. He’s expected to meet with King Charles, hold talks with British PM Sir Keir Starmer, visit NZ troops training Ukrainians, and highlight the importance of the UK to the NZ economy.

“New Zealand is a champion for free trade, and I look forward to talking to Sir Keir Starmer about what our countries can do together to support the rules-based trading system,” Luxon said.

“The UK is one of NZ’s closest and most trusted partners, and for many Kiwis, it is where they base themselves on their OE.

“The UK is also important to NZ’s prosperity. Our exports there grew by more than 20% in 2024 and are still growing.”

Two-way trade with the UK, which NZ signed a free trade agreement with in 2022, was worth $7.27 billion in the year ending December 2024, making it our seventh largest trading partner.

Our main UK imports include mechanical machinery, tourists, and vehicles, while our top exports are tourists, meat, and beverages.

Luxon’s visit also follows the departure of Phil Goff as High Commissioner to the UK.

Goff was effectively sacked from the role over comments he made about Trump in March. Chris Seed, the former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is currently acting High Commissioner.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon flies out on Saturday morning. Photo / Alex Burton

Although the PM’s trip has been in the works for a while, it now comes during international uncertainty for the rules-based trading order provoked by the US Administration’s seemingly constantly changing position on tariffs.

In a major speech last week, Luxon advocated for NZ working with like-minded countries to promote free trade.

He highlighted a desire to explore the role of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which the UK is now a member, in strengthening opportunity for trade.

“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.

“My vision is that includes action to prevent restrictions on exports and efforts to ensure any retaliation is consistent with existing rules.”

As PM he had a responsibility “to do everything I can to both bolster the existing rules-based order and to further strengthen NZ’s position offshore”.

“It’s why I will be heading to the UK ... to meet PM Sir Keir Starmer, to talk trade, security, and the geopolitical backdrop in Europe and the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“We can’t make the case for NZ sitting at home. We have to position ourselves as advocates both for our own economic interests and the institutions that underpin them.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he's on the same page as Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters on responding to tariffs. Photo by Mark Mitchell.

Luxon didn’t consult on that speech with Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, who the next day called for politicians to “not lose their nerve” as the US and China went into a tariff tit-for-tat.

He said he hoped Luxon would “call me next time”.

Peters in a separate speech two days later in Hawaii again called for calm, saying there was a “tendency to hype up a debate about how international trade works into a black-and-white, polarising issue has been unfortunate and misguided”.

“The use of military language – of a ‘trade war’, of the need to ‘fight’, of the imperative to form alliances in order to oppose the actions of one country – has at times come across as hysterical and short-sighted,” Peters said.

“Trade war” and “fight” are terms Luxon has used.

The PM denied this week he and his Foreign Affairs Minister were on different pages, saying any suggestion was a “media beat-up”.

Gallipoli visit

Following Luxon’s visit to the UK, he will fly to Turkey, the first visit there by a NZ leader since 2015.

It will coincide with the 110th anniversary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.

Luxon said he would be there to “honour the commitment and sacrifice of all NZ war veterans”.

The Government has made recent efforts to recognise more veterans.

The current Anzac Day Act does not acknowledge conflicts after 1966 and only recognises troops who landed at Gallipoli from the UK, Australia and NZ.

Earlier this month, legislation passed its first reading in Parliament to ensure all those who have served in NZ wars and war-like situations are commemorated.

A Veterans’ Recognition Bill is also being proposed to introduce a broader definition of ‘veteran’ separate to the existing Veterans’ Support Act. A new national day dedicated to honouring veterans is also being established.

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office.