Britain, after nearly two years of intense negotiations, concluded a historic trade agreement to join a large-scale Indo-Pacific trading bloc.
On Friday, the government said joining 23.00 hoursmber is a Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership which will provide access to a region with a GDP of 11 trillion pounds ($ 13.6 trillion).
The UK said that this was the country’s largest post-Brexit trade deal and that it is the first European country to join the CPTPP, since its entry into force in 2018.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak welcomed the deal, saying it would put the UK at the centre of a dynamic and growing group of Pacific economies.
“We are essentially an open free trade nation and this deal shows the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms,” he said in a statement. “British companies will now have unparalleled access to markets from Europe to the South Pacific.”
The trade bloc includes Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, among others. The agreement is expected to be formally signed by the end of the year, after final approval by parliament and the 11 member states.
The trade agreement grew out of the now-defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, which originated in the U.S. but collapsed after former President Donald Trump reversed U.S. intervention.
Britain said the agreement would lower tariffs on exports of food, drink and cars and provide access to a market of around 500 million people that would be worth 15% of global GDP once the UK joined the trading bloc.
The UK estimates that joining the CPTPP will boost its economy by £ 1.8 billion in the long term and increase wages by £ 800 million compared to 2019 levels.
Trade Minister Kemi Badnoch said the deal was a “strong signal “that Britain was using its”post-Brexit freedoms to access new markets around the world and grow our economy”.
Natalie Black, British Trade Commissioner for Asia and the Pacific, called it a” Progressive Agreement ” for Britain.
“This deal is, yes, about today’s economic performance. But it’s mainly about economic performance in the future, “she said in an interview on CNBC’s”Squawk Box Asia ” on Friday.
“This is the part of the world that will boost economic growth and also advance trade rules. We want to be part of those discussions.”
