The United Kingdom has officially become the 12th member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a milestone in the country’s effort to strengthen its global trading relations after its withdrawal from the European Union.
The CPTPP is the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact that was negotiated by U.S. President Barack Obama, before his successor Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in 2017. In addition to the U.K., the pact currently comprises 11 other countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
According to a U.K. government statement, the agreement will enter into force on December 15 between the U.K. and eight member states that ratified its accession by an October 16 deadline. It will enter into force with Australia on December 24 and with Canada and Mexico 60 days after they each ratify.
With CPTPP membership, “Britain is uniquely placed to take advantage of exciting new markets, while strengthening existing relationships,” the U.K.’s Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in the statement.
In 2021, the U.K. announced that it had applied to join the CPTPP, as part of London’s attempt to remake itself as a buccaneering mercantile powerhouse under the rubric of “Global Britain.” Its membership was formally approved in April of last year, with then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying that CPTPP membership demonstrated “the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms,” as Reuters reported at the time. “Joining the CPTPP trade bloc puts the U.K. at the center of a dynamic and growing group of Pacific economies,” he said.
In 2022, the U.K. exported £64.7 billion ($81.8 billion) worth of goods and services to the 11 CPTPP members, but by most estimates, the economic benefit of U.K. membership will be modest. The U.K. already has trade deals with nine of the 11 CPTPP member states, and while the CPTPP provisions go further in certain respects, the deal is set to boost the U.K. economy by £2 billion ($2.5 billion) annually over the long run, an amount equivalent to just 0.08 percent of the country’s GDP, according to a government impact assessment.
This assessment found that this may rise in future given that the CPTPP is a grouping that “is expansionary at its heart. As new members join, the U.K. will be able to benefit from its expansion and increased opportunities to trade.”
Perhaps just as importantly, there is also a strategic value in having a say in whether or not future applicants to the CPTPP, which include China, will be able to join. In addition to China, six other countries have expressed an interest in becoming CPTPP members. Costa Rica is the next applicant slated to go through the process of joining, while Indonesia and Taiwan have also applied for membership.
“As the first country to accede to this agreement the U.K. will be well positioned to shape its future development, from influencing the development of the CPTPP rulebook to championing the group’s expansion to new economies,” the Department for Business and Trade said in a statement in August.