UK applies for membership of Trans-Pacific free trade group

One month after officially leaving the European Union, the UK has made a formal request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trading bloc comprised of 11 nations in the Pacific region.

The move was announced on Saturday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson who said it proved that "One year after our departure from the EU we are forging new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain."

"Applying to be the first new country to join the CPTPP demonstrates our ambition to do business on the best terms with our friends and partners all over the world and be an enthusiastic champion of global free trade," Johnson added.

The formal request to commence accession negotiations was made on Monday by the Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss who, in her letter described joining the group as "a priority for the UK government and a key part of our trade negotiations programme as a newly independent trading nation."

"CPTPP is one of the most important free trade areas in the world and UK accession could see CPTPP’s proportion of global GDP rise to 16%. UK membership would also be the first step in expanding this influential and modern trade network of 11 dynamic economies beyond the Indo-Pacific region and the Americas," wrote Truss.

Read more: EU-UK trade faces major disruptions, regardless of trade deal

Through joining the group, the UK could benefit from lower trade tariffs without the "ever closer union" that comes with EU membership.

Truss has argued that membership would "complement" existing agreements with countries such as Mexico, Canada and Japan, which had rolled over from previous EU deals. 

She also said that it would liberalise digital trade and eliminate tariffs on goods such as cars and whisky, as well as fast-track visa procedures for businesspeople travelling to member states.

In 2019, the UK's trade with CPTPP member countries amounted to around £111 billion (€125 billion), which is around six times less than than the business it conducts with EU member states.

At present, the CPTPP consists of 11 nations - Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The CPTPP was launched in 2019, and during the prior negotiations, the US under former President Barack Obama was one of its biggest proponents. However, his successor's administration withdrew from the partnership before it was ratified in 2017.

UK officials hope the group will later be joined by the US under President Joe Biden, providing a backdoor to closer ties between the two countries, especially as hopes of an early trade deal between London and Washington are fading.

There is, however, no certainty that President Biden will join the group, having promised during last year's election campaign to improve the domestic economy before signing up to new trade agreements, meaning that neither an agreement with the UK nor membership of the CPTPP are viewed as high priorities.

“President Biden has repeatedly said that the CPTPP would need to be renegotiated,” one US administration official was quoted as saying in the FT. “The administration is currently focused on domestic investment and economic growth that supports the American middle class."

Read more: Asia-Pacific Nations Sign Historic Free Trade Deal

Critics of the government's move say that in reality, UK membership of the CPTPP would bring only limited benefits to Britain with distance being one of the overriding and undeniable factors. According to a study commissioned by the UK government, Britain's recent trade deal with Japan is likely to increase GDP "in the long run by about 0.07%".

The application has the potential to become a bone of contention between Brexit supporting politicians in the UK.

Andrew Bridgen MP, one of the so-called Brexit spartans who consistently voted against former Prime Minister Theresa May's deal, said: "We don't need the EU any more".

"This just confirms the massive opportunities Brexit is already bringing to this country," he added.

However former UKIP and Brexit Party MEP and the man widely credited for the UK's departure from the EU, Nigel Farage, described the CPTPP's predecessor, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as being "modelled and based on the European Union's single market."

When former US President Trump withdrew from the agreement, Farage took to the media declaring it as an important blow to the "EU's prototype for world governance".

"These things masquerade as trade deals when actually they’re about harmonisation, homogenisation – they’re about playing into the hands of not big business, big giant multi-nationals at the expense of everybody else,” added Farage.

Shortly after the application was made, farming, animal rights, and food standards campaigners issued a warning against a situation whereby British farmers would be undercut by those in countries with fewer provisions in place. 

While the government has promised it would defend existing food standards, it has refused to enshrine these protections into law.

Mark Williams, chief executive of the British Egg Industry Council said: “We will hold the government to its commitment that there will be no lowering of animal welfare standards in any trade deals.

"It would be morally wrong for egg products, produced to lower animal welfare standards, to be sold in the UK and this is something that consumers will not accept."

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