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| British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. © AFP=News1 |
The UK government has announced that it is pushing forward to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (CPTPP), a free trade agreement.
On the 30th (local time), the British government announced in a press release that “Minister of International Trade Leeds Truss will meet with officials from the Japanese and New Zealand governments on the 1st of next month to request CPTPP membership.”
The British government said, “If you join the CPTPP, access to major emerging countries including Mexico, Malaysia and Vietnam will be strengthened,” and “formal negotiations will begin this year.”
The CTTP was renamed TPP after former US President Donald Trump withdrew, and an agreement was signed in 2018. Currently, the member countries of the Free Trade Agreement CPTTP are Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The UK government expects that joining the CPTTP will lower tariffs across the UK industry, including groceries and automobiles, while creating new opportunities for modern industries such as technology and services, ultimately providing jobs across the UK.
The British government also added, “Unlike joining the EU, the CPTPP does not require us to transfer control over our laws, borders or money.”
On the other hand, there is an analysis that it is Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s intention to overcome the losses after leaving the EU by joining the CPTPP. The Financial Times (FT), a British economic journal, reported that it was pointed out on the day that CPTPP’s membership would benefit greatly.