UK applying to join free trade bloc of Asia-Pacific

Boris Johnson

Britain will apply to join a massive 11-nation free-trade bloc of Asia-Pacific countries, it announced Saturday, weeks after leaving the European single market with its departure from the EU. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will formally request on Monday for Britain to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a market representing half a billion people and roughly 13.5 percent of the global economy.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the potential new partnership would "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," he said.

Negotiations between the UK and the partnership - which represents 11 Pacific Rim countries including Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico and Vietnam - are expected to start this year, the trade department said. Truss said the deal will mean lower tariffs for car manufacturers and whisky producers, as well as "delivering quality jobs and greater prosperity for people here at home".