The UK has become the first European member of the CPTPP

On July 16, the British Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Badnoch, formally signed the treaty in Auckland, New Zealand, confirming the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), becoming the first new member to join the CPTPP since its entry into force in 2018, and the first European member.

The CPTPP, which evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), has 11 members: Australia, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, Chile, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei. After Brexit, the UK has been implementing the strategy of “Global Britain”, and in 2021, the UK applied to join the CPTPP. After nearly two years of negotiations, Britain was allowed to join in March.

Joining the CPTPP is the UK’s biggest trade deal since Brexit, cutting tariffs on those countries for British exporters. With the UK as a member, the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the CPTPP countries will reach 12 trillion pounds (about S $20.75 trillion), accounting for 15 per cent of global GDP.

Shigeyuki Goto, Japan’s minister for Economic regeneration, said: “I strongly believe that the UK’s participation will further strengthen the bonds among CPTPP members and enable us to deepen cooperation to promote a free, fair and rules-based trading system and economic order in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins also said Britain’s participation was good news for the Asia-Pacific region. Trade is not only a priority for the New Zealand government, it is also vital to economic recovery and improving the lives of all New Zealanders.

British Prime Minister Sunak also said in a statement that the UK’s participation in the CPTPP is a “historic step”, the UK economy is expected to increase by 1.8 billion pounds, and 99 percent of British exports to other member states can enjoy tariff-free trade, including cheese, cars, chocolate, machinery and other key exports of the country.

At the same time, British Business and Trade Secretary Badnoch said that the CPTPP greatly boosted the development of British businesses, opening up trade opportunities for British businesses to a market of more than 500 million people, as well as access to the wider region, “We are leveraging our position as an independent trading nation, Joining an exciting, growing and forward-thinking trading bloc that will help grow the UK economy and build on the hundreds of thousands of jobs already supported by CPTPP companies up and down the UK.”

In the case of joining the CPTPP, it is worth mentioning that the United States did not participate in the negotiation and creation of this regional trade organization, and China and Taiwan have applied to join this trade organization. Scholars and officials in Taiwan have raised concerns about whether the CPTPP will discuss applicants based on the order in which they submit their applications, with Taiwan submitting its application in September 2021, nearly a week after China, and fearing that China will use it to disrupt or obstruct Taiwan’s efforts to join the CPTTP.

In addition, Australia has recently made it clear that China is not expected to join in the short term, coupled with the deteriorating relationship between the United Kingdom and the Communist Party of China, after the United Kingdom became a member of the CPTPP, the hope of the Communist Party of China to join the CPTPP has become more remote.