Jakarta –
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Friday (31/3), Britain had agreed to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) bloc. This is the UK’s biggest trade deal since Brexit.
“Joining the CPTPP trading bloc places the UK at the center of a dynamic and growing Pacific economic group,” Rishi Sunak said in a statement, adding that the deal demonstrated “real economic benefits of post-Brexit freedoms.”
Britain has been trying to build global trade ties after leaving the European Union in 2020. The country is especially keen to deepen ties in the Indo-Pacific region, after its foreign policy framework made China a major “challenge”.
Other CPTPP members are Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. England is the first new member to join this group. Membership will complement the bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that the UK has with most member countries.
The Pacific is growing twice as fast as Europe
Britain says the deal will cut tariffs on cars, liquor and dairy products and is believed to boost the economy by 1.8 billion pounds annually in the long term – a figure that could increase if more countries join the pact.
“The Pacific Rim is expected to grow twice as fast as Europe,” said Sally Jones at the economic consulting firm EY. “CPTPP is making it easier, and CPTPP is only going to get bigger, as more countries want to join.”
Post-Brexit, the UK has agreed new trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, and agreed to an FTA with Japan in 2020. The UK is also in talks with Canada and Mexico about a new FTA.
Future Expansion
Japanese economy minister Shigeyuki Goto said Britain’s joining the pact was “absolutely important” in further promoting free trade, open and competitive markets and economic integration beyond the Pacific Rim. Japan led negotiations on Britain’s joining the pact.
On other economies that have signed up to join, such as China and Taiwan, Goto said Japan needed to look closely at whether they were “fully prepared to live up to the high standards” of the trade pact.
Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, John Deng, told Reuters Taipei would “continue efforts to get support from CPTPP countries” to join as well.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning reiterated Beijing’s opposition to Taiwan joining “any formal agreement or organization.” He said, “if China were to enter CTTPP, that would be a good thing.”
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