The article analyses the geographical structure of New Zealand’s trade and the country’s trade policy instruments. I demonstrate that a range of strategic interests may be behind New Zealand’s involvement in certain trade activities. The article also presents the significance and impact of New Zealand’s geographical factor on the country’s trade policy and bilateral and regional free trade agreements. It seeks to determine whether New Zealand’s efforts to increase its participation in international trade can be considered from the angle of its national interests. Due to the geographical distance between New Zealand and Europe, the former’s principal trading partners are in Asia and the Pacific, with China, Australia, the USA, Japan, South Korea and the UK in the lead. Trade with the European Union, although important, will certainly enter a new dynamic phase once an EU-NZ Free Trade Agreement has been signed. Even after the withdrawal of the USA from the TransPacific Partnership (TPP), New Zealand continues to perceive the TPP as a great opportunity, which, if ratified by all 11 members, could provide the country with access to new absorptive world markets and thus improve the efficiency of its trade policy