UK joins CPTPP Pacific trade bloc

The UK has reached agreement on joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Pacific trade bloc, as the government pursue new commercial opportunities around the world post-Brexit.

Subject to ratification, the UK has completed the first part of its accession to the 11-nation CPTPP, which includes fast-growing Asian economies, Malaysia and Vietnam along with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand and Singapore.

The UK, which opened talks in 2021 and already had deals with the majority of these nations carried over from its EU membership, is the first non-founding country to join, and will be its second biggest economy after Japan.

The CPTPP bloc is home to over 500 million people and generates 14% of global GDP, although the pact is of negligible economic impact to the UK in the short term.

Because each of the CPTPP’s members has a veto on new countries joining the pact, the UK has been in a weak position in trying to resist demands for changes to its tariff regime and other policies.

Participants in the talks said Canada asked the UK to drop its rules against imports of beef raised with growth hormone, though London has rejected that request and is granting new quotas for hormone-free beef instead.

The CPTPP accounted for 8% of UK exports prior to the pandemic, but members like Vietnam are growing rapidly, which means that trade opportunities should exceed economic forecasts.

Becoming a CPTPP member means that 99% of UK exports will be eligible for tariff-free trade, including cars, machinery, food and drink.

Manufacturers can claim their products qualify for preferential treatment, under “rules of origin”, as long as 70% of components come from participating countries.

The biggest potential rewards could occur if others join CPTPP, with China and Taiwan among those showing interest, but the biggest prize would be if the US reversed President Trump’s decision to withdraw.

We have network offices in CPTPP member countries and around the pacific, to simplify trade with the bloc, while our fixed price and long-term capacity agreements with leading sea and air carriers means that we can provide resilient and reliable supply chain solutions to and from all CPTPP members.

Our supply chain management platform, PowerView, simplifies global trading expansion, with easy integration and management of new vendors.

PowerView makes every milestone, event and participant interaction transparent and controllable, down to individual SKU level.