UK Set to Become Member of Trans-Pacific Trade Bloc by December
More than 99 percent of current UK goods exported to CPTPP partners will be tariff-free, and membership could boost the economy by £2 billion annually by 2040.
The UK will join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by Dec. 15, as confirmed by the Department for Business and Trade on Thursday.
This announcement follows Peru becoming the sixth and final CPTPP member needed to ratify the UK’s application, with Chile, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam already supporting the deal.
The department is actively collaborating with the other five members—Australia, Brunei, Canada, Malaysia, and Mexico—who are in the process of ratifying the agreement.
Minister of State for Trade Policy Douglas Alexander mentioned, “This is a positive development for UK businesses, who are now one step closer to leveraging the opportunities that our CPTPP membership will bring.”
“We extend our gratitude to all the CPTPP partners who have ratified our accession so far—Japan, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, Vietnam, and now Peru—and eagerly anticipate more to follow suit in the coming months,” Alexander added.
CPTPP is a free trade area covering five continents with a combined market of almost 600 million people.
Related Stories
The UK is the first European country to become a member and the first to join since it was established in 2018.
More than 99 percent of current goods exported to the bloc will be tariff-free once the deal comes into effect, the Department for Business and Trade said, boosting the economy by around £2 billion a year by 2040.
‘Brexit Success Story’
Sir Simon Clarke, the former Conservative chief secretary to the Treasury, praised the news as “an important Brexit success story.”
It represents what the previous Conservative government dubbed the “biggest trade deal since Brexit” and offers significant benefits to British businesses, notably exporters of products like chocolate, machinery, gin, and whisky.
Authorities had previously highlighted that dairy producers will have enhanced export opportunities to Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Japan.
Some items from the bloc’s members will become more affordable for British consumers, including products like kiwis from New Zealand, blueberries from Chile, and maple syrup from Canada.
Relations ‘Reset’ with EU
The announcement coincides with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s European tour to “reset” relations with the EU, from which the UK exited formally in 2020 after voting to leave it in 2016.
On Wednesday, Starmer met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss a new treaty between the two nations, which the prime minister indicated would lead to “closer ties on science, technology, development, people, business, culture” and “a boost to [the UK’s] trade relations.”
Starmer remarked, “Britain can advance its interests much more effectively when we collaborate with friends and partners.”
“This treaty is part of a broader reset, entrenched in a new spirit of collaboration with our mutual understanding that it will progress rapidly, with the hope of finalizing it by the year’s end,” he added.
The prime minister clarified that his aspirations for a “wider reset” with the EU do not involve “reversing Brexit or rejoining the single market or the customs union.”
