In its largest trade agreement since Brexit, the UK has decided to join a significant trans-Pacific trade pact.
Britain will join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the first new member since the bloc’s formation in 2018 and the first European nation in the trade association, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Friday.
Sunak said in a statement that joining the CPTPP trade bloc places the UK at the center of a vibrant and expanding group of Pacific economies and that the agreement showed “the actual economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms.”
The United Kingdom wants to do business with rapidly expanding economies.
The previous trans-Pacific trade agreement, from which the United States withdrew in 2017, was replaced with the CPTPP under former President Donald Trump.
Japan, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam are among the 11 nations that currently make up the bloc.
Sunak’s office estimates that once Britain joins as the bloc’s 12th member, it will have more than 500 million members and contribute around 15% of the World’s Economy.
The agreement was reached after nearly two years of protracted negotiations as the UK sought to forge international economic ties after leaving the European Union by turning to far-off but rapidly-expanding economies.
Up till now, Britain has signed agreements with far-flung allies like Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, and it is currently in negotiations with India and Canada.
But a prized agreement with Washington is still a long way off.
