By Elishya Perera
LONDON (CU)_The United Kingdom will formally apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), with International Trade Secretary Liz Truss set to speak to ministers in Japan and New Zealand on Monday (Feb 1).
The announcement was made on Saturday (Jan 30), as the UK celebrated one year since leaving the European Union and becoming an independent trading nation.
“One year after our departure from the EU we are forging new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
He noted that his country’s intention to join the free trade bloc demonstrates the United Kingdom’s 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”.
According to a statement issued by the Department for International Trade, UK trade with the members of the CPTPP was worth £111 billion in 2019, and joining the group would not only enable free flow of data and people between the member states, but will also generate large tariff benefits for businesses, especially for products such as whisky, which currently faces a 165 per cent tariff when exported to Malaysia.
Trade Secretary Truss said that joining the CPTPP will create “enormous opportunities” for UK businesses that simply weren’t there as part of the EU.
“It will mean lower tariffs for car manufacturers and whisky producers, and better access for our brilliant services providers, delivering quality jobs and greater prosperity for people here at home,” she said.
“We’re at the front of the queue and look forward to starting formal negotiations in the coming months.”
According to the Department of International Trade, the CPTPP membership is a key part of the PM Johnson’s Government’s plan to position the UK at the centre of a network of modern free trade deals that would drive economic growth and support jobs at home.
London will publish its negotiation objectives, scoping analysis, and consultation response in advance of the formal negotiations which are expected to start this Spring, the Department said.
