‘Brexit boosterism!’ Truss bids to join £9 trillion free trade zone
LIZ TRUSS will today deliver a ‘huge dollop of Brexit boosterism’ by announcing that the UK is applying to join a £9 trillion pan-Pacific free trade area.
The International Trade Secretary hopes that Britain will become the 12th member of a bloc of nations – including Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – in which 95 per cent of goods are traded between members tariff-free.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) accounts for 13 per cent of global commerce
Last night Ms Truss said that membership of the bloc would vindicate the decision to leave the European Union.
The Cabinet Minister, who will speak to ministers in Japan and New Zealand tomorrow morning, said: ‘Joining will create unheralded opportunities for UK businesses that simply weren’t there as part of the EU – and deepen our ties with some of the fastest-growing markets on earth.
‘ It will mean lower tariffs for car manufacturers and whisky producers, and better access for our brilliant services providers, delivering quality jobs and greater prosperity for people here at home.
‘We’re at the front of the queue and look forward to starting formal negotiations in the coming months.’
The announcement would cut tariffs on food and drink and cars and boost the service industries. As an example, joining the bloc would cut the tariff on Scotch whisky in Malaysia from 165 per cent to nothing.
Today marks the first anniversary of the UK leaving the EU and a source close to Ms Truss said of the CPTPP move: ‘This is a huge dollop of Brexit boosterism. Joining would position us right in the middle of some of the world’s fastest- growing economies, and will deliver a huge boost to British jobs and British industries such as cars, whisky, tech and services.’
The source added: ‘ CPTPP has all the benefits of a massive free trade area, but unlike the EU does not come with major strings attached. This is exactly why we left the EU, to make good on these sorts of opportunities and deepen links with the rest of the world.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: ‘One year after our departure from the EU, we are forging new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain.
‘Applying to be the first new country to join the CPTPP demonstrates our ambition to do business on the best terms with our friends and partners all over the world and be an enthusiastic champion of global free trade.’
Other signatories of the CPTPP, which came into effect in 2018, are Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
‘Deepening ties with some of the fastest-growing markets’