New Zealand exporters pin hopes on RCEP as TPP hits Trump barrier

New Zealand exporters are backing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade talks to help them overcome barriers including the high exchange rate.

Exporters were feeling confident and expecting orders to rise in the next 12 months, despite uncertainties in Britain after the Brexit vote and in the United States with the election of Donald Trump as president, according to the Export New Zealand DHL Export Barometer survey out Monday.

The research shows that overall 2016 has been a good year, with 52 percent of exporters achieving an increase in international orders.

Optimism for the coming year was high, with 63 percent expecting international orders to increase, and 32 percent saying they expected orders to remain at the same level.

"This is a positive signal in an increasingly uncertain global market," Export New Zealand (ExportNZ) executive director Catherine Beard said in a statement.

The biggest barrier was the level of the New Zealand dollar, with exactly one-third of exporters highlighting the exchange rate as a challenge.

With the expected demise of the controversial 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) under a Trump administration in the United States, New Zealand exporters are pinning their hopes on the 16-nation RCEP.

"ExportNZ is hopeful that if the TPP can't come to fruition, the wider Asian region can show the way with a high quality free trade agreemen, RCEP," said Beard.

"This would help New Zealand exporters remain competitive in these markets." Endit