THE possibility of a trade war has been raised by New Zealand over moves by the federal opposition to circumvent a World Trade Organisation ruling ending a 90-year ban on apple imports into Australia.
New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser warned in an interview with The Australian Financial Review that New Zealand would have to consider retaliation against Australian imports if Parliament passed an opposition-sponsored bill to protect local apple growers from competition.
Mr Groser said that he "could not believe" that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott would back the move.
But if the legislation did pass, he said, New Zealand would have to consider the "nuclear option" of retaliatory action.
Mr Groser also warned that as a key leader of global efforts to liberalise trade, any action by Australia to defy a ruling of the World Trade Organisation appellate system would have repercussions far beyond the issue of apple imports and relations between Australia and New Zealand.
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