Even the most ardent Brexiteers would likely admit that the UK has been slow to embrace one of the biggest benefits of leaving the European Union: the quick and nimble pursuit of trade deals. There are understandable reasons for the delay. It made sense for trade secretaries to start with the bi-lateral deals which could be copy-pasted from the arrangements we had in the EU. The first bespoke deal with Australia took time (albeit perhaps didn’t need so many concessions) as it was intended to be a framework that could be used to strike future deals with new countries.
But the UK’s biggest trade win to date may be just around the corner. It is expected that the UK’s accession into the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will be formally announced tomorrow. We don’t know the details of what has been negotiated yet, so it’s impossible to say just now the extent to which the UK’s new membership will move the trade dial. But in its short, five-year run, CPTPP has developed a strong reputation for being one of the more liberal, flexible trade blocs. Even without knowing all the details of what the UK has secured, the basic framework of CPTPP suggests there is a lot to benefit from, especially in the sectors where Britain holds an advantage.
The Indo-Pacific trade bloc was founded in 2018 with eleven members, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and Mexico. The countries together make up a $10 trillion market, of which the UK is expected to become the first non-founding country to gain admittance. The bloc was created with small and medium-size businesses in mind, in a bid to expand their export markets. This means its benefits include what government officials describe as ‘old school’ trade perks: the removal of tariffs and quotas, making it cheaper and easier to export goods.
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