Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg
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The UK will formally apply for membership in an 11-member trans-Pacific trade bloc on Monday, with negotiations expected to begin later this year.
Since leaving the European Union, Britain signed multilateral bilateral trade agreements with seven members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, including Japan, Vietnam and Singapore.
The UK’s Department of International Trade said it hopes that joining the group will facilitate business travel, eliminate tariffs on British exports, such as whiskey and cars, and simplify rules of origin so UK manufacturers can use more components made in the country states.
As the first nation that was not a founding member of the group to try to join it, Britain is “at the front of the line,” said Liz Truss, secretary of international trade. She plans to speak with Japan’s Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and Damien O’Connor, New Zealand’s Minister of Trade and Economic Growth, by video call on Monday.
Post-Brexit Britain
The United Kingdom will formally apply for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Transpacific Partnership Agreement
The international trade department said it would publish an assessment of the economic benefits of joining the CPTPP this spring, despite an earlier promise to release it before application to allow more time for parliamentary scrutiny.
The current 11 members of the CPTPP account for approximately 13% of the global gross domestic product, $ 10.6 trillion, according to the New Zealand government.