The Prime Minister says the United States administration is “very, very clear” on New Zealand’s position on tariffs, but won’t say if he raised it directly with President Donald Trump in their first face-to-face meeting.
Christopher Luxon said he wouldn’t go into a “blow-by-blow” of the meeting which took place ahead of an APEC leaders dinner, respecting the privacy of his conversations with other leaders.
He did however say tariffs were a “topic of conversation” over the dinner he shared with his counterparts from Australia, Canada, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in honour of US President Donald Trump.
Luxon and Trump arrived at the dinner together, smiling as they walked in, after the other leaders in attendance all arrived and were greeted separately.
Trump then described to reporters that he liked “your man from New Zealand”.
At the table, President Lee welcomed everyone, with a translator explaining he told those gathered, “We are all allies and friends of the US.”
“The whole world is faced with multiple challenges, and in these times, collaboration and cooperation among states is more important than ever before.”
He called it a rare opporutnity to gather, and mentioned it was significant Trump had joined in particular.
“As the host, I would like to wish each and every one of you prosperity and also world peace. Let me raise a toast for world peace and collaboration between states.”
Luxon later told reporters he wasn’t sure what the drink was, but made the toast then stuck to his Pepsi Max, whereas he presumed Trump was on “Coke Zero”.
Trump also made opening remarks, canvassing his successful trip to the region where he’d secured a range of trade deals.
“We’re working together on rare earths, but we’re working on a lot of things together, and it’s all working out very well,” said Trump.
He also said he was looking forward to his scheduled meeting with President Xi Jinping.
“We’ve been talking a lot over the last month, and I think we’re going to have something that’s going to be very, very satisfactory to China and to us.”
Luxon met briefly with Trump before the dinner.
Photo: Supplied / PMO
During a media conference after the dinner, Luxon described its intimate setting, which allowed the leaders to have “one group conversation the whole time”.
He said it was a great chance to get to know each other more, and discuss what was going on in the region.
Luxon met briefly with Trump before the dinner, indicating a formal sit down wasn’t the goal. The goal had been to build a rapport with the president, who he’d only spoken to over the phone previously.
Trump “raved about how beautiful the country was” Luxon said, and asked about “golf courses and those sorts of things”. Luxon told reporters later he’d invited Trump to New Zealand to play golf any time he was in that part of the world.
Asked whether tariffs came up in their discussion, Luxon said he could “reassure you that the US administration is very, very clear of the New Zealand position on tariffs”.
“Equally, we are very, very clear about their position on tariffs as well.”
Asked whether he’d raised it directly with the president, Luxon said he wouldn’t go into a blow-by-blow, but the topic of tariffs was raised at dinner “in general” he said.
Asked how President Trump responded to that, Luxon said again he wouldn’t go into a “blow-by-blow”.
“It’s a massive economy. It has huge influence.”
He said that was why the upcoming meeting with China was important too, for the two largest economies in the world to “find a way to accomodate each other and be able to work with each other”.
“Ultimately, that is of benefit to us in the Indo-Pacific region, from a prosperity and also security point of view.”
Asked about the uncertainty created by Liberation Day tariffs, Luxon said Trump was acting as the leader of the US and in America’s interests, “in the same way I act in New Zealand’s interests”.
Luxon wouldn’t chalk up his meeting with Trump as a win, saying he was just doing his job.
“My job as Prime Minister of New Zealand is to do everything I can to put New Zealand in the best possible place with every world leader I can meet.”
The meeting and dinner took place at the end of a day in which President Trump made a speech to the APEC CEO summit, where Luxon also made an appearance and reiterated his calls for the rules based order.
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