The government of the United Kingdom had its first meeting with the negotiators of the 11 members of the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Treaty of Trans-Pacific Partnership, TIPAT).

According to that country’s Department of International Trade, membership would provide new opportunities for entrepreneurial businesses, more options for consumers, and provide greater economic security for the UK.

«Strategically, the CPTPP would help us forge ties with the wider Pacific region and put us in a stronger position to reshape the rules of world trade together with countries that share our values,» he said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The UK aims to join CPTPP because the membership:

• Help put the UK at the center of a web of free trade agreements with dynamic economies, making the UK a hub for international companies trading with the rest of the world.
• Puts the UK in a stronger position to reshape global rules and push for reform at the WTO.
• Boost Economic Security – Hook the UK into one of the world’s largest free trade areas. An advanced agreement full of countries committed to the rules of international trade
• It makes the UK more resilient to future shocks by diversifying its trade and supply chains.

The free trade area removes tariffs on 95% of goods traded among its members, which could lower costs for businesses and create new economic opportunities for UK exporters.

CPTPP

Since 2009, trade between the UK and CPTPP countries has grown an average of 6% each year and in 2019 was worth more than 112 billion pounds.