Zero duty on all Indian goods as New Zealand trade deal takes effect on Vijayadashami

Indian goods shipped to New Zealand will face no customs duty at all from Tuesday, 20 October, when the India–New Zealand free trade agreement comes into force on Vijayadashami. Wellington is removing duty on every one of its tariff lines for Indian products from the first day, the most sweeping access India has secured in any recent trade deal.

Sampath Kumar, Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, spelt out the change in Hyderabad on Monday, 19 October. “100% of tariff lines are going to become zero from tomorrow,” he told reporters. According to Kumar, textiles, clothing, leather and footwear, which attracted duties of up to 10 per cent in New Zealand, will now enter free. Levies of up to 5 per cent on pharmaceuticals, agricultural and marine products, plastics, chemicals and electrical goods are also being scrapped.

Trade has been growing fast

Commerce ministry figures put bilateral merchandise trade at $1.3 billion in 2024-25, a rise of 49 per cent over the previous year. India’s exports to New Zealand accounted for $711 million of that. Kumar said he expected India’s trade surplus with New Zealand to widen further under the pact.

The agreement was signed in New Delhi on 27 April by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and New Zealand’s Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay. In return for full access to New Zealand, India has opened up roughly 70 per cent of its own tariff lines. Dairy, a major New Zealand export, stays excluded along with other sensitive farm items, while products such as apples and kiwifruit get access through quotas. New Zealand has also committed to facilitating $20 billion of investment into India over 15 years.

A JCB from Pune leads the way

A day before the pact took effect, Goyal flagged off what he described as the first-ever JCB machine exported to New Zealand, a mini excavator built at the company’s plant in Pune, Maharashtra. “New Zealand will now build with a ‘Made in India’ JCB machine!” the minister wrote on X. Exports currently make up about a quarter of JCB’s India-made output, and Goyal said he wanted the company to raise that share to half.

JCB India chief executive Deepak Shetty said the company exported about 15,000 machines last year and expects to ship around 18,000 this year.

What it means for the Telugu states

Several of the sectors gaining zero-duty entry matter to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad is one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing centres, and both states have textile, garment and seafood exporters who until now paid duties in the New Zealand market. The size of the market is modest, but exporters and trade officials see the agreement as a test case for labour-intensive industries.

The government has said micro, small and medium enterprises, farmers and labour-intensive sectors should gain the most. Indian consignments landing in New Zealand from 20 October onwards will be the first to clear customs under the new zero-duty terms.

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