Now 12: UK joins TPP trade pact with Peru, Chile and Mexico

The member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPPalso known as TPP11) agreed to accept the accession of the United Kingdom this Friday, as confirmed by the Japanese Executive.

The Minister of Economic Recovery of Japan, Shigeyuki Gotoconfirmed this news to the press after the ministerial meeting and said that “it is very significant to promote free trade and also an open and competitive market”.

The eleven member countries reached this decision during a meeting held online and waiting for it to be formally approved during a ministerial meeting scheduled for July 15 and 16, which marks the first expansion of the treaty to a country that was not among its founding members.

According to a statement released today by the accession task force, Great Britain “has provided commercially significant market access offers of the highest level in goods, services, investments, financial services, government acquisitions, state-owned enterprises, and temporary entry for business persons.”

The CPTPP, sealed in 2018, includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, ChiliJapan, Malaysia, MexicoNew Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Initially it had the United States, but this country abandoned the project in 2017 by decision of former President Donald Trump, which is why it is also known as TPP-11.

The United Kingdom began the process to join the treaty in 2021, becoming one of its key trade strategies after leaving the European Union, and being the first non-Pacific country to apply for membership.

China, Taiwan and Uruguay have also started the process of joining the trans-Pacific agreement, which covers a market of almost 500 million people, 13 percent of world GDP, and is one of the largest free trade agreements in the world.

With the accession of the United Kingdom, the TPP would cover 15% of world GDP.

Source: EFE