Local farmers and representatives of the red meat sector have echoed the government’s line on United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs: do not panic yet, and despite global financial uncertainty, it could be worse.
After Mr Trump announced a 10% tariff on all goods exported from New Zealand last week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters the country’s economy was "relatively well positioned" to withstand the unprecedented new export taxes.
Mr Luxon also said New Zealand was lucky to have been hit with the "baseline tariff" of 10%, compared to some other countries which received "much higher".
Despite meat being one of New Zealand biggest exports, second only to dairy, Gore beef and lamb farmer Andrew Morrison said he had faith in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
He advised other exporters "take a deep breath" before reacting to the news.
"There could be an exercise in re-jigging the deck chairs of where the products go to and that's what agile companies would be considering," he said.
Beef+Lamb New Zealand chairwoman Nicole Acland felt similarly and said the sector was "resilient", used to uncertainty and had the advantage of diversified market access.
She also pointed out the US exports its own beef too and has put much higher tariffs on its main export markets of Japan, South Korea and China.
While Japan had not ruled out reciprocating its new 24% levy and South Korea sought instead to negotiate, China has responded with a matching 34% on US exports.
These were gaps in the market Ms Acland believed New Zealand could fill.
Ms Acland also pointed out US beef production was the lowest it had been in 70 years, which might have been Mr Trump’s reasoning for tariffs in the first place.
Mr Trump has long campaigned for the export levies as a way to rebuild domestic industries.
However, the subsequent "unsettled trade flows", as Ms Acland called them, would have the hardest financial impact on the consumer,as the cost of living continued to rise.
Mr Luxon said this would be felt by US citizens the most but there was uncertainty of its effect on the average New Zealander.
After a global sharp fall in the stock market, the NZX fell more than 3% on early trading after the announcement.
The New Zealand dollar also fell against most major currencies, hitting a three-month low against the US dollar.
When The Ensign asked local financial advisers for comment, it was declined with one expert saying he did not wish to do any "crystal ball gazing" on the topic.
