Britain will join a vast free trade area of 11 countries spanning the Indo-Pacific region, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced.
The UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was formally confirmed in a call between Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and her counterparts from the group in the early hours of Friday.
Britain is the first new member, and the first European nation, to join the bloc—comprising Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam—since its formation in 2018.
It follows nearly two years of negotiations, culminating in intensive talks in Vietnam earlier this month when representatives of the 11 existing members agreed to the UK joining….