The Business and Trade Secretary is heading to Mexico hoping to push for new trading arrangements for the UK. On a two-day visit to Mexico City, Kemi Badenoch will hold talks with counterparts to discuss the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
One of the major post-Brexit deals ministers have pinned their hopes on is joining the 11-country bloc made up of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The Department for Business and Trade, which was created this week as part of Rishi Sunak’s carving up of Whitehall departments, said the UK was “nearing the final stages” of talks to join the £9 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) trading bloc.
Ministers say joining CPTPP could give UK businesses tariff-free access on more than 99% of goods that enter a market of around 500 million customers. Ms Badenoch, the former international trade secretary who was handed extra responsibilities as part of the Prime Minister’s shake-up, will also look to renegotiate Britain’s free trade agreement with Mexico.
