Commenting on reports that the UK will shortly join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Shanker Singham, International Trade and Competition Fellow at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs and former trade advisor to the Secretary of State for International Trade said:

“UK accession to the CPTPP would be a seismic geo-economic event. For the first time, a major G7 country has chosen to accede to a regional grouping not because it is part of that region but because it represents liberal values and provides economic opportunities. 

“If the UK succeeds in acceding to the CPTPP, it becomes much more than just a regional agreement; it becomes a real challenge to the outdated WTO system and could encourage that system to embrace reform. CPTPP+UK has the equivalent economic weight to the EU-28-UK. If UK accession accelerates the possibility of the US rejoining the CPTPP, it would become a grouping spanning around half of the global economy.

“The CPTPP is also a bulwark against Chinese market distortions destabilising the world and provides a platform where like-minded liberal nations can agree united and innovative approaches to these anti-competitive market distortions.” 

ENDS

Notes to Editors

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