Trans Pacific Partnership Trade Treaty

Context:

Recently, The U.K. acceded to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The agreement will now need to be ratified by Westminster and each of the CPTPP member countries.

Joining the CPTPP could provide several benefits for the UK, such as:

The British government said the deal would mean that more than 99% of British exports — including for key markets such as cheese, cars, chocolate, machinery, gin and whisky —would have zero tariffs.
The government said the deal was a “gateway” to the Indo Pacific region which would account for a majority (54%) of global economic growth in the future.
It will also, as a CPTPP member, get a veto on whether China joins the treaty.

About Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

It is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.
The CPTPP was signed by 11 countries in 2018 in Santiago, Chile.
After the US withdrew from negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the remaining 11 participants scrambled to amend the text of the agreement, and the newly renamed CPTPP was signed.
The Agreement stipulates that no party is allowed to increase customs duty on an originating good or adopt any new customs duty with respect to it.
- Rather, parties have been mandated to eliminate these customs duties as per commitments set forth in the annexure.