CPTPP: UK joins Japan, Australia and others in Trans-Pacific Partnership, biggest trade deal since Brexit


Atlanta/Hong Kong
CNN

The UK has reached an agreement to join a major trans-Pacific partnership, calling it the biggest trade deal since. Brexit.

The country will be the first new member and the first in Europe to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) since its inception. It entered into force in 2018.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the move early Friday morning, calling it a historic move that could help boost the country’s economic growth by £1.8bn ($2.2bn) over the long term.

“The bloc is home to over 500 million people and will account for 15% of global GDP after the UK joins,” Sunak’s office said.

The CPTPP is a free trade agreement with 11 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam. It replaced the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the United States stepped down under former President Donald Trump in 2017.

The agreement with Great Britain was concluded almost two years after the start of negotiations to join the pact.

As a member, over 99% of UK exports to these 11 countries will now be eligible for duty free trade. This includes major exports such as cheese, cars, chocolate, machinery, gin and whisky.

During the year to September 2022, the United Kingdom exported £60.5 billion ($75 billion) worth of goods to CPTPP countries, Sunak’s office said in a statement. statement.

Dairy farmers, for example, shipped £23.9m ($29.6m) worth of products like cheese and butter to Canada, Chile, Japan and Mexico last year and they were expected to “benefit from more low tariffs,” he added.

The deal also aims to remove red tape for UK companies, which will no longer need to set up local offices or be residents of member countries to provide services there.

According to Sunak’s office, services accounted for a huge portion – 43% – of the UK’s total trade with CPTPP members last year.

“At heart, we are an open and free nation,” the prime minister said in a statement, keen to present the deal as an example of “the economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms.”

“Under the CPTPP, the UK is now at the forefront of the global economy to seize opportunities for new jobs, growth and innovation,” Sunak added.

Several companies expressed their support for the deal in a government statement, including global bank Standard Chartered.

(SKBFF)
and liquor manufacturer Pernod Ricard

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Joining the agreement “represents a great opportunity for our Scotch whiskey business,” said Anishka Jelicic, director of communications for Pernod Ricard in the UK.

“Five of our top 20 export markets are members of the CPTPP. We expect tariff cuts and smoother access to some of the world’s fastest growing economies to increase exports and generate jobs and investment in the UK, while doubling sales in some markets.”