Green Co-leader Rod Donald today said calls for import tariffs on steel by the US International Trade Commission showed that a free trade deal with the United States was a mirage.

"Time and again the United States does whatever it needs to protect its own industries - whether those industries be lamb or steel - while still encouraging the rest of the world to shed their tariffs and open their borders," said Mr Donald.

"Trade Minister Jim Sutton should get real.

"Instead of chasing a free trade nirvana, we should be focusing on making the New Zealand economy more self reliant through the encouragement of import substitution which creates jobs, reduces the trade deficit and makes sense as the global economy slows down."

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