New Zealand and Switzerland have agreed to start trade discussions, following a meeting between Trade Minister Todd McClay and Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs Helene Budliger Artieda in Auckland on 16 July 2026.

The two met on the sidelines of a Future of Investment and Trade (FIT) Partnership meeting. New Zealand is a founding member of the FIT Partnership, which it launched alongside Switzerland, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates as a cross-regional group. The new talks add to what is already an active trade relationship: two-way trade between the two countries was worth $1.88 billion in 2025, according to RNZ.

New Zealand's exports to Switzerland totalled $429 million in 2025, led by travel services, meat and edible offal, and hides and skins. Imports from Switzerland were worth $1.45 billion, with transportation services, pharmaceuticals, clocks and watches, insurance and pension services, and charges for the use of intellectual property at the top of the list. Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs also identifies pharmaceutical products and precision instruments as its main exports to New Zealand.

McClay described Switzerland as "an important partner for New Zealand and one of the world's most innovative and advanced economies." He said the trade and investment dialogue would lead to closer economic cooperation through bilateral trade and international forums including the WTO, the OECD, and the FIT Partnership.

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, so this dialogue runs separately from the EU–New Zealand free trade agreement signed in 2023. The bilateral track with Bern is distinct from the one with Brussels.

Officials from both countries will hold their first meeting under the new trade dialogue in September.

The announcement builds on a recently signed agreement linking the two economies. On 1 July 2026, McClay signed a trade agreement with Costa Rica, Iceland, and Switzerland — the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS). The Swiss government announced in November 2024 that the ACCTS would be submitted to the Swiss Parliament for approval, with entry into force for Switzerland expected at the start of 2026.

The ACCTS is designed to link trade liberalisation directly to climate and sustainability commitments — for instance, by removing tariffs on environmental goods and cutting fossil fuel subsidies. McClay addressed this theme in a May 2026 speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, titled "International Trade in Troubled Times," where he framed the government's trade agenda against a backdrop of global protectionist pressure.

The broader context here is worth tracking for anyone following trade policy. The ACCTS, signed just weeks before the July announcement, already binds New Zealand and Switzerland to a set of rules removing tariffs on environmental goods and cutting fossil fuel subsidies. The new bilateral trade dialogue could extend that foundation into wider market access and services liberalisation.

Switzerland's exports to New Zealand are dominated by high-value services and intellectual property charges, which means any future negotiations will likely deal with the harder end of trade policy: digital trade, intellectual property frameworks, and mutual recognition of professional standards.

The FIT Partnership also matters. The group gives like-minded economies a venue for developing trade and investment rules outside established negotiating forums. Switzerland co-launched it, and the bilateral dialogue now runs alongside that multilateral track, giving officials more touchpoints across both settings.

Whether the September meeting produces a formal negotiating mandate or remains a scoping exercise has not been indicated. Either way, the government has signalled it sees Switzerland as a priority for deeper economic engagement, and the relationship now has more institutional structure behind it than at any previous point.