The British government is about to apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) under its post-Brexit “Global Britain” strategy, according to news from London.
On March 8, 2018, representatives of 11 countries involved in the CPTPP negotiations held a signing ceremony for the agreement in Santiago, Chile. The countries that signed the CPTPP are Japan, Canada, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Mexico and Peru. In total, it covers a market of about 500 million people and generates more than 13 percent of world income.
The United States was originally in negotiations to join its predecessor, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), under the administration of former President Barack Obama, but President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 23, 2017, after taking office, officially announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement. On November 11 of the same year, then Japanese Minister of Economy Toshimichi Mogi and Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Jun Anh held a press conference in Da Nang, Vietnam, where they jointly announced that 11 countries other than the U.S. had formally agreed on continuing the TPP, and that the 11 countries would sign a new free trade agreement with the new name CPTPP.
Representatives of the 11 countries involved in the CPTPP negotiations hold a signing ceremony for the agreement in Santiago on March 8, 2018. On December 30 of the same year, the CPTPP officially entered into force. The main purpose of the agreement is to cut trade tariffs between member countries, and it includes a commitment to eliminate or reduce import fees by 95%, although some of these fees are retained to protect some domestically produced products, such as rice in Japan and the dairy industry in Canada, among others.
In return, countries must cooperate on regulations such as Food standards. However, these standards and regulations do not have to be identical, and member countries can reach their own trade agreements. It is reported that the UK will be the first non-founding country to apply for membership, and if successful, will become its second largest economy after Japan.
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