UK joins Indo-Pacific trade bloc in move to 'boost trade and create opportunities for UK companies abroad'

Britain has become the first European nation to officially sign up to the 11-member CPTPP, but the economic benefits are limited

A container ship from MSC leaves the port of Tokyo. After several years of negotiation, the UK joined the CPTPP trade bloc on Sunday. AFP

The UK became the first European nation to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Sunday, an Indo-Pacific trade bloc that includes Australia and Canada.

The UK is the 12th country to join the CPTPP, after years of negotiations. Britain's application to be admitted to the trade bloc was first submitted in 2021. The UK government predicts membership of CPTPP will bring billions into Britain's struggling economy, and it will now immediately apply trade rules and lower tariffs with most of the pact's members. Eight CPTPP members earlier ratified the entrance of the UK, including Japan, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, Vietnam, Peru, Malaysia and Brunei. A period of 60 days has to elapse between ratification and admission. Because Australia ratified slightly later, the CPTPP rules won't apply to it and the UK before December 24. Canada and Mexico have yet to finally rubber-stamp the UK's membership, but officials expect that to happen in the near future.

"Britain is uniquely placed to take advantage of exciting new markets, while strengthening existing relationships," UK business and trade minister, Jonathan Reynolds, said. "Today's news is further proof that the UK is a wonderful place to do business, with an open, outward-looking economy driving the growth people can feel in their communities.

"Agreements like this boost trade and create opportunities for UK companies abroad. This is a proven way to support jobs, raise wages and drive investment across the country, which is key to this Government's mission to deliver economic growth," he added.

Meanwhile, the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who was trade secretary when the UK formally agreed to join the bloc in 2023, said the deal "brings enormous benefits to everyone from British farmers to fintech and small businesses to the largest manufacturers. The deal places the UK in a bloc with the fastest-growing economies in the world and was a key Brexit benefit to add to our EU trade deal".

The UK government estimates the pact may be worth £2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) a year in the long run, which would be less than 0.1 per cent of GDP. Also, joining the CPTPP was also a far less complicated process than negotiating a post-Brexit deal with the EU. The CPTPP is not a single market like the European Union and, as such, regulatory harmonisation was not required. Any future deal between the UK and UK, however, who have to take such harmonisation into account.

The pact represents Britain's first free trade deals with Malaysia and Brunei. The CPTPP has its roots in the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was developed in part to counter China's growing economic dominance. However, that collapsed after then President Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in 2017. From that collapse the CPTPP took shape. Costa Rica is the next country set to join the trade pact, with Indonesia also expressing a desire for membership.