UK applies to join Pacific free trade area where Chile is a member English
From: Port of Valparaíso, Chile.
The UK government is formally applying to join one of the world’s largest free-trade areas, to position the UK at the heart of emerging economies in the Pacific and support jobs across the UK.
UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss spoke with Ministers in Japan and New Zealand on Monday morning (1 February 2021) to request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the first formal step before negotiations start later this year.
UK membership would enhance trade with CPTPP nations, including Chile, by opening up new markets and opportunities for UK businesses while encouraging greater inward investment and strengthening the UK’s ties with the Indo-Pacific region and the Americas.
Jack Taylor/Getty Images
One year after officially leaving the EU, the UK has confirmed it will request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The Pacific free trade bloc, which was established in 2018, covers a market of around 500 million people and member nations include Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.
Formal negotiations are set to start this year and if successful the UK would be its second biggest economy after Japan.
International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said: “Joining CPTPP will create enormous opportunities for UK businesses that simply weren’t there as part of the EU. It will mean lower tariffs for car manufacturers and whisky producers, and better access for our brilliant services providers, delivering quality jobs and greater prosperity for people here at home. We’re at the front of the queue and look forward to starting formal negotiations in the coming months.”
LONDON
One month after Britain made a New Year split from the European Union’s economic embrace, businesses that once traded freely are getting used to frustrating checks, delays and red tape.
British meat exporters say shipments have rotted in trucks awaiting European health checks. Scottish fishermen have protested at Parliament over the catch they can no longer sell to the continent because of complex new paperwork.
The manufacturers’ organization Make U.K. said Monday that 60% of manufacturing companies have experienced “significant disruption” since Jan. 1.
The British government says the troubles are “teething problems,” but companies say they are causing serious pain.
Source: Department for International Trade
The government is formally applying to join one of the world’s largest free-trade areas, to position the UK at the heart of emerging economies in the Pacific and support jobs across the UK.
The UK is formally applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), with formal negotiations set to start this year, the government said.International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will speak to her counterparts .