The UK hopes to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), alongside Japan and ten other countries. Becoming a member of the trading bloc would remove tariffs on food and drink. Furthermore, it would also provide a boost for the UK services sector. The Department for International Trade has said that British trade with the bloc was worth £111 billion in 2020.
One year after our departure for the EU we are forging new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain… Applying to be the first new country to join the CPTPP demonstrates our ambition to do business on the best terms with our friends and partners all over the world and be an enthusiastic champion of global free trade…
– Boris Johnson
British representatives will be speaking to Japanese and New Zealand delegates on Monday 1st February. This will coincide with a formal application to join the partnership. Following this, negotiations will then continue throughout the Spring. Other members of the bloc are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Membership of the bloc has the potential to deliver new opportunities for UK business across different sectors…
– Lord Bilimoria, Confederation of British Industry
The UK and Japan already agreed to a historic free trade agreement in September 2020. It was estimated that the bilateral deal would lead to an increased £15.2 billion of trade. According to the UK government, the deal ‘will deliver a £1.5 billion boost to the UK economy… increase UK workers’ wages by £800 million in the long run’.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-trade-cptpp/uk-set-to-formally-apply-for-trans-pacific-trade-bloc-membership-idUSKBN29Z0VU
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-japan-agree-historic-free-trade-agreement
wtfjapan
A lonely pond in age-old stillness sleeps . . .
Apart, unstirred by sound or motion . . . till
Suddenly into it a lithe frog leaps.
