Beyond Brexit—UK applies to join Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

Article summary

The Department for International Trade (DIT) has confirmed that the UK is formally applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The long-anticipated application was announced to coincide with the first anniversary of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The government hopes that joining the CPTPP will open opportunities for UK exporters in strategically important sectors, and support an industrial revival in the UK, while also diversifying UK trading links and supply chains as part of ‘a network of modern free trade deals’. The government has promised to publish its negotiating objectives, scoping assessment and consultation response in advance of talks ‘expected to start this Spring’.