As formally announced at the weekend, the UK has today applied to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc, consisting of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. A combined GDP of $13.5 trillion, and 495 million people.
In the letter sent by Truss this morning, she writes “to formally request the commencement of negotiations on UK accession to CPTPP”:
“Accession to CPTPP is 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 Americas.”
Read the letter in full below:
