Northland businesses, farmers urged to keep calm over Trump win, US tariff threats

Northland Federated Farmers president Colin Hannah says New Zealand’s lean beef is needed to meet US food safety standards on fat levels in hamburger patties.

Northland business leaders say it is too early to know how Donald Trump’s election win will impact Te Tai Tokerau’s economy, but maintaining relationships will be important.

Trump won the US presidential election last week with a decisive victory and will be sworn in on January 20.

Of the possible ramifications, the win could result in some US citizens moving to Northland, NorthChamber CEO Leah McKerrow said.

The election result saw a spike in Americans searching “move to New Zealand” on Google Search, according to Google Trends data.

“It’s certainly impacted the number of people searching to come and live in New Zealand ... potentially we might be able to attract people to live over here.”

Northland ticks all of the boxes for people living in states like California, who are looking for good climate and lifestyle, McKerrow said.

One of Trump’s key election campaign promises is to introduce greater tariffs, including 60% tariffs on imports from China and 10-20% on goods from other parts of the world.

But Northland Federated Farmers president Colin Hannah said if tariffs are added to New Zealand-grown beef, it will only cost US consumers. Trump also campaigned on reducing the cost of living in the US.

Meat is New Zealand’s most valuable export to the US, bringing in $2.3 billion in 2023. Northland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty together raise a third of New Zealand’s beef livestock.

Hannah said the US needs New Zealand’s lean, grass-fed beef to meet its own food safety standards, which restrict the amount of fat in ground beef and hamburger patties.

“They still need us,” he said.

“They use our grounding beef to get up to that legal requirement, as animals reared on feedlots lay down fat a lot more,” he said.

Hannah said there is still a lot of uncertainty and he suspected tariffs will not be added to New Zealand beef or, if they are, they will be removed quickly because of the impact on inflation.

“We will play an important part in whatever happens for them; I don’t think we’ll see too many tariffs in the long term.”

McKerrow agreed there is still a lot of uncertainty for Northland businesses over potential US tariffs and how the market might be impacted by Trump’s win.

“It’s very uncertain times. We have to separate out the campaign rhetoric from what might happen.”

NorthChamber chief executive Leah McKerrow says what will happen with US tariffs is still unknown, so businesses shouldn’t panic. Photo / Denise Piper

She was unsure if New Zealand, as a small exporter, would be hit with the same tariffs as other countries. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise will be doing briefings for businesses once more information is known, she said.

Businesses shouldn’t get too worried about what is still unknown.

“For our exporters, maintaining good relationships with who they export to will be really important.”

She said the threat of US tariffs also served as a reminder for businesses to diversify their customer base, rather than having all their eggs in one basket.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.