Britain has struck a deal to join the 11-country Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) which includes Japan and Australia.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the move is the biggest trade deal since Brexit.
“Joining the CPTPP trade bloc puts the UK at the centre of a dynamic and growing group of Pacific economies,” Sunak said in a statement, adding the deal demonstrated “the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms.”
Japan’s economy minister Shigeyuki Goto described Britain’s joining the pact as “a great significance” in further promoting free trade, open and competitive markets as well as economic integration beyond the Pacific Rim.
Japan chaired negotiations for Britain joining the pact.
Global trade ties
Britain has been looking to build global trade ties following its departure from the EU in 2020 and has looked to pivot toward geographically distant but fast-growing economies.
It is deepening its ties in the Indo-Pacific as its foreign policy framework casts China as an “epoch-defining challenge”.
Other members of CPTPP are Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Britain is the first new member to join the group.
Also Read: U.S, Japan set to Rebuild new Trade partnership
Japan has asked the U.S. to return to the trans-Pacific trade pact after Washington in 2017 formally withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, the predecessor to the CPTPP.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said it was “desirable” for the U.S. to rejoin the trade pact and Tokyo would persist in pressing Washington to become a member.
Membership will supplement existing bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Britain has with most of the member countries, and gives businesses extra options over the terms they can trade under.
Britain said the deal, which will cut tariffs on cars, spirits and dairy products, would boost the economy by 1.8 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) each year in the long run – a figure that could rise as more countries join the pact.
Britain has agreed on new post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand and agreed on an FTA with Japan in 2020. It is also in talks with Canada and Mexico over new FTAs after it rolled over previous EU trade deals at the end of 2020.
Zainab Sa’id
