Current Events Assignment
Three years after leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom has agreed to join a
trade agreement with 11 Asian and Pacific nations (Espiner,2023). The government said on
Friday that it will join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific
Partnership (CPTPP), gaining access to a region with a combined GDP of £11 trillion ($13.6
trillion (Bala,2023). The United Kingdom declared this to be the country's largest post-Brexit
trade agreement, making it the first European country to join the CPTPP since it entered into
force in 2018 (Bala,2023).
The government claims that joining the club will enhance UK exports by lowering tariffs on
items such as cheese, automobiles, chocolate, equipment, gin, and whisky (Espiner,2023).
However, according to the government's own calculations, joining the EU will only add
0.08% to the size of the UK economy (Espiner,2023).
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak praised the agreement, saying it places the United Kingdom at
the center of a rising network of Pacific economies (Bala, 2023). In a recent statement
issued by the Prime Minister, he stated, “We are at our heart an open and free-trading
nation, and this deal demonstrates the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms,”
(Bala,2023). He added, “British businesses will now enjoy unparalleled access to markets
from Europe to the South Pacific.”
Britain stated that the agreement will be worth 15% of global GDP after the UK enters the
trading bloc (Bala, 2023). The government further predicts that entering the CPTPP will
enhance its economy by £1.8 billion in the long run and raise salaries by £800 million above
2019 levels (Bala, 2023).
Negotiations to ratify the trade agreement, however, have not always been smooth. To
eliminate the final impediment to the agreement's completion, an impasse between the
United Kingdom and Canada concerning agricultural access to markets had to be addressed
(Bala,2023).
In a recent interview with CNBC, Natalie Black, the U.K.’s trade commissioner for Asia
Pacific, stated, “This deal is, yes, about economic performance today. But is very, very much
about economic performance in the future.” (Bala, 2023). She further stated that “This has
been a complex deal to negotiate. We’ve been negotiating across multiple time zones across
a range of complex issues. And they’re not always straightforward. But ultimately, all parties
have agreed that the U.K. is a great new member of CPTPP.”
China is also seeking admission into the trade bloc but has failed to make the same level of
progress as the United Kingdom (Bala,2023).
Although the trade commissioner stated that commenting on specific economies "wouldn't
be appropriate," she did remark that the obstacles to entering the trading bloc are quite
high (Bala,2023). She further went on to state, that, “It’s really up to those who come
behind us to make sure they meet the expectations of members of having high-quality
applications.”
References
Espiner, T. (2023, March 31). UK-Asia trade deal to boost UK economy by 0.08%. BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65124741
Bala, S. (2023, March 31). Britain to join Indo-Pacific trade bloc in biggest trade deal since Brexit.
CNBC.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/31/britain-to-join-cptpp-in-biggest-trade-deal-since-brexit.html
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