Vice President Mike Pence has asked to sit next to Jacinda Ardern at the Gala Dinner for East Asian leaders in Singapore.

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It'll mean the Prime Minister gets an hour-and-a-half face time with The Vice President.

New Zealand is not getting a formal bilateral meeting with the US but will take the opportunity to raise issues like the high tariffs imposed by the US on our steel and aluminium.

The Prime Minister says she will ask why these tariffs apply to New Zealand while other countries like Australia are exempt.

"From our perspective, we don't think they should apply to us and that's one of the reasons that we've pretty consistently raised it," she said.

Last year, US President Donald Trump attended but this year, he will not be travelling to the region.

The Prime Minister is in Singapore for the next three days for the East Asian Summit with 10 countries represented.

She will be meeting with new Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for the first time and will also have high level meetings with China, Thailand and Singapore.

The Prime Minister says she will raise issues including the South China Sea, human rights and climate change.