UK signs accession path for trans-continental trade deal

For the UK, it is the biggest trade deal since leaving the EU, but critics fear its impact will be limited

Kemi Badenoch was in Auckland for the signing. PA

The UK signed the accession protocol on Sunday to join a multinational trade bloc that can open doors from Canada to Japan.

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch signed off on the UK’s looming membership of the transcontinental Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

It brings British businesses a step closer to being able to sell to a market of 500 million people with fewer barriers.

For the UK, it represents the biggest trade deal since leaving the European Union, but critics fear its impact will be limited.

“I’m delighted to be here in New Zealand to sign a deal that will be a big boost for British businesses and deliver billions of pounds in additional trade, as well as open up huge opportunities and unparalleled access to a market of over 500 million people,” Ms Badenoch said.

“We are using our status as an independent trading nation to join an exciting, growing, forward-looking trade bloc, which will help grow the UK economy and build on the hundreds of thousands of jobs CPTPP-owned businesses already support up and down the country.”

Britain is the first new member and the first European nation to join the bloc – comprising Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam – since its formation in 2018.

It will cut tariffs for UK exporters to a group of nations which – with UK accession – will have a combined gross domestic product of £12 trillion, accounting for 15 per cent of global GDP, officials said.

The signing was the formal confirmation of the agreement for the UK’s membership, which was reached in March after two years of negotiations.

Britain and the 11 CPTPP members now begin work to ratify the deal.

Officials estimate it will come into force in the second half of 2024, at which point the UK becomes a voting member of the bloc and businesses can benefit from it.

While most of the details were agreed earlier this year, the terms and conditions of the UK’s membership are being published on Sunday.

That includes the commitments the UK is making to other nations on market access.

To coincide with the signing, the Government released figures showing that CPTPP-headquartered businesses employed one in every 100 UK workers in 2019, adding up to more than 400,000 jobs across the country.

Membership of the trade group is expected to bolster that investment relationship.

While Britain already has trade agreements with the CPTPP members apart from Malaysia and Brunei, officials said it will deepen existing arrangements, with 99 per cent of current UK goods exports to the bloc eligible for zero tariffs.

Dairy producers will gain export opportunities to Canada, Chile, Japan and Mexico, while beef, pork and poultry producers will get better access to Mexico’s market, according to officials.

Items that will become cheaper for UK consumers include Australian Ugg boots, kiwis from New Zealand, blueberries from Chile and Canadian maple syrup, according to the Institute of Export and International Trade.

The move was welcomed by the British Chambers of Commerce, which said accession would be "good news for UK businesses".

Critics say the impact will be limited, with some estimates suggesting it will add just £1.8 billion a year to the economy after 10 years, representing less than 1 per cent of UK GDP.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy last month said the government was being “dishonest” by claiming CPTPP membership would make up for lost trade in Europe.

Conservation campaigners and trade unions said the deal would enable trade in environments that damage the environment and poses risks for workers.

Angela Francis, director of policy solutions at conservation group WWF-UK, said the Government was "knowingly enabling trade in products that are wreaking havoc on our natural world".

Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said: "This Pacific trade pact is bad for workers at home and abroad. Once again, Conservative ministers have turned a blind eye to egregious human and workers' rights abuses in their pursuit of trade deals."