Britain Enters Trans-Pacific Trade Pact: Britain formally signed the treaty to join a significant trans-Pacific trade pact on Sunday, becoming the first new country to join since the pact’s inception in 2018 and allowing members to consider applications from China and Taiwan. The signature took place in New Zealand as part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) commission meeting.
Britain formally signed the treaty to join a significant trans-Pacific trade pact on Sunday, becoming the first new country to join since the pact’s inception in 2018 and allowing members to consider applications from China and Taiwan.
The signature took place in New Zealand as part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) commission meeting. Later on Sunday, ministers from member nations will convene to discuss a variety of issues, including how to proceed with new applications and a review of the agreement itself.
Britain Enters Trans-Pacific Trade Pact
At the signature, Britain’s Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch expressed her country’s delight at becoming the first new member of the CPTPP. Badenoch stated, “This is a modern and ambitious agreement, and our membership in this exciting, brilliant, and forward-looking bloc is evidence that the United Kingdom is open for business.”
The United Kingdom must still ratify the agreement. In 2018, eleven nations, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, reached a historic trade agreement known as the CPTPP.
After its exit from the European Union in 2020, the United Kingdom will become the twelfth member of the accord that reduces trade barriers in an effort to strengthen ties in the Pacific. China, Taiwan, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Ecuador have also submitted membership applications.
Chris Hipkins, the prime minister of New Zealand, stated that the path to bringing the United Kingdom into the agreement had been long and at times difficult, but that having major economies within the partnership would bring the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific and bolster the region’s rules-based trading system.
