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Exporters' profit margins have been obliterated by the high dollar, says the Employers & Manufacturers Association Northern.
Many were just hanging on to overseas markets in the hope that the currency would drop, it said.
Association chief executive Alasdair Thompson said exporters' revenue was about half what they were getting six years ago when the dollar was worth just US40c.
In the meantime fuel and compliance expenses had increased sharply with no action by local or central government to cut costs, he said.
"Government needs to do less hand wringing and offer more constructive support and leadership over the crippling impacts of the currency."
Cuts in local production by firms including Fisher & Paykel, Sleepyhead, and Masport were the tip of the iceberg, he warned.
"Imports are taking an ever rising proportion of the local market as our ability to add value profitably is eroded," Thompson said.
The chief executive of the Canterbury Manufacturers' Association, John Walley, said high prices for dairy commodities and a better cross rate against the Australian dollar provided "some comfort" for local firms.
"However, domestic spending and house prices show no sign of slowing down, so we can expect the dollar remaining strong against the US and the Yen, even if the Reserve Bank holds the OCR next week," Walley said.
The Government needed to break a cycle that began with house price inflation, he said.
"Pushing consumption, pushing inflation, pushing the OCR, pushing international money back into inflated house prices - round and round, to the point the rest of the economy feels the pain currently felt by our exporters."
