British want to join free trade agreement | NOW

The UK will apply to join the CPTPP trade bloc on Monday, the UK government said on Saturday. According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, this will bring economic benefits to the British people.

“One year after leaving the EU, we are forging new partnerships which will bring enormous economic benefits to the British people,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.

The government has said that joining the free trade agreement, of which all other members are in the Pacific, will lift tariffs on food, drink and cars while helping to boost sectors of the technology and services. British Commerce Secretary Liz Truss is speaking with colleagues from Japan and New Zealand on Monday about a formal application to join the CPTPP, the statement said.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership was concluded in 2018. It grew out of a further development of the TPP treaty in which the United States would also participate. In 2017, however, Donald Trump decided that the United States would not continue to participate.

“Applying to be the first new country to join the CPTPP is a testament to our ambition to do business with our friends and partners around the world under the best possible conditions and to be a strong champion of global free trade,” Johnson said. .

Currently, the CPTPP agreement is in effect in Mexico, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Vietnam. Brunei, Chile, Malaysia and Peru have not yet ratified the treaty. Truss previously called the CPTPP countries “one of the most dynamic free trade areas in the world.”