The UK is actively looking for another way out after leaving the European Union and will submit a formal application on February 1 to join the “Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership” (CPTPP), which is currently composed of 11 Asia-Pacific countries including Japan and Australia.
The CPTPP was signed in 2018 by representatives of Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Mexico, Chile and Peru. 11 member countries have a market population of about 500 million people and cover more than 13% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The BBC reports that Liz Truss, the UK’s International Trade Secretary, is expected to apply on February 1, and formal negotiations will begin this spring. The UK is the first non-original member to apply for membership, and if successful, will become the second largest economy after Japan.
The U.S. was also supposed to be a member of the CPTPP, but former President Trump signed an executive order in 2017 to withdraw from the CPTPP’s predecessor, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The TPP is a free trade agreement that aims to reduce tariffs between member countries, including a commitment to reduce tariffs on products by up to 95 percent or more, although countries have protective barriers for specific products, such as rice in Japan and dairy products in Canada.
Before the UK officially left the European Union, it continued to actively reach out to the outside world and negotiate free trade agreements with many countries, and signed a free trade agreement with Singapore on December 10, 2020, covering more than 17 billion pounds (about NT$640 billion) of trade in goods and services, which is the first free trade agreement signed between the UK and an Eastern Association country.
However, even if the UK successfully joins the CPTPP, it is still a drop in the bucket compared to the past trade volume with the EU. In 2019, for example, CPTPP members accounted for only 8.4% of UK exports. However, joining the CPTPP would allow specific goods to be exported with zero tariffs, such as whiskey to Malaysia and cars to Canada.
By becoming the first country outside of the original members to apply to join the CPTPP, (Britain) demonstrates our ambition to trade on the best terms with our allies and partners around the world, while also promoting global free trade,” said Truss.
We are at the front of the queue and look forward to formal negotiations in the coming months,” she said.
Recent Comments