The UK has joined a new super-trade deal with countries including Mexico, Vietnam and Chile after nearly two years of negotiations.
The country will become the first in Europe to join the huge trade bloc in the Indo-Pacific, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
It is the UK’s biggest trade deal since Brexit and is set to slash red tape for UK firms in growing Pacific markets.
The historic agreement, which will see the bloc’s total GDP hit £11trillion, follows two years of intense negotiations by the Department for Business and Trade.
The UK will now join the 11 Pacific nations in the pact, which formed in 2018, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Ministers say joining the CPTPP could give UK businesses tariff-free access on more than 99% of goods that enter a market of around 500 million customers.
Likewise they say membership is a “gateway” to the wider Indo-Pacific region, which has 60% of the world’s population and is set to account for the majority (54%) of global economic growth in the decades ahead.
A possible deal had already come under some criticism with farmers raising the alarm that Britain could be flooded with meat from countries with weaker welfare standards under the pact earlier this month.
No10 yesterday said the agreement will protect the UK’s vital industries, including agriculture and the NHS, and will uphold high animal welfare and food safety standards.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We are at our heart an open and free-trading nation, and this deal demonstrates the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms. As part of CPTPP, the UK is now in a prime position in the global economy to seize opportunities for new jobs, growth and innovation.
“Joining the CPTPP trade bloc puts the UK at the centre of a dynamic and growing group of Pacific economies, as the first new nation and first European country to join. British businesses will now enjoy unparalleled access to markets from Europe to the south Pacific.”
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: “This is an important moment for the UK. Our accession to CPTPP sends a powerful signal that the UK is open for business and using our post-Brexit freedoms to reach out to new markets around the world and grow our economy.
“Joining CPTPP will support jobs and create opportunities for companies of all sizes and in all parts of the UK. It is about giving British businesses improved access to the countries that will be gateway to the wider Indo-Pacific region which is projected to make up the majority of global growth in the future.”
But Lib Dem trade spokeswoman Sarah Green said: "This Conservative government is responsible for some shocking trade deals that fail to add economic benefit to the UK.
“We have seen in the UK our businesses tangled in red tape and farmers abandoned.
"The Conservatives have trashed the British economy with GDP stagnant and this announcement will not even repair a fraction of their damage.
“People need help with soaring energy bills not empty promises years down the line.”
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