King's Speech 2023 - Trade (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) Bill

“...a bill will be brought forward to promote trade and investment with economies in the fastest growing region in the world.”

• ●  The UK is the first European member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the first new member since the partnership was created. Joining as an independent member would have been impossible had the UK remained in the European Union.

• ●  The Trade (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) Bill will ensure the UK can meet international commitments under the CPTPP when the UK accedes.

• ●  Joining CPTPP will link the UK to some of the world’s most dynamic economies, a club that will account for the majority of global growth between now and 2050 and £12 trillion of GDP once the UK joins. This means:

o Good news for UK exporters as over 99 percent of current goods exports to CPTPP countries will be eligible for tariff-free trade. Specifically, dairy farmers will benefit from reduced tariffs on cheese and butter exports to Canada, Chile, Japan and Mexico. This builds on the £23.9 million worth of dairy products we exported to these countries in 2022. And there will be enhanced market access opportunities for our world-leading whisky producers and car manufacturers amongst others.

o GoodnewsforconsumerswithlowertariffsonimportsfromCPTPPcountries to the UK. This could mean cheaper prices for high-quality products like fruit juices from Chile and Peru, honey and chocolate from Mexico, and vacuum cleaners from Malaysia.

o BritishfirmswillgainenhancedmarketaccesstoMalaysiaforthefirsttime,an economy worth £330 billion in GDP in 2022.

What does the Bill do?

• ●  CPTPP will bring new opportunities for British businesses, support jobs across the country, and ensure UK PLC is well positioned to capitalise on future global growth.

• ●  The Trade (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) Bill will enable the UK to meet its obligations under the CPTPP when the UK accedes, allowing us to bring our accession into force. The Bill will:

  o Give CPTPP parties greater access to our government procurement market. In return, the UK will gain new market access into Canada, Japan,

“...a bill will be brought forward to promote trade and investment with economies in

the fastest growing region in the world.”

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Peru, Malaysia and Brunei – commercial opportunities that go beyond these countries’ commitments under the WTO’s Agreement on Government Procurement.

o Enhance regulatory cooperation between the UK and CPTPP parties on conformity assessments, reducing costs for UK businesses while protecting UK standards.

o Bring our approach to geographical indications (GIs) into line with CPTPP, a deal that will help the UK better protect our GIs abroad and support our world-beating agricultural sector.

o Expand copyright protections so performers from CPTPP parties are covered, mirroring the protections that UK performers will receive when operating abroad.

Territorial extent and application

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Key facts

• ●  Joining CPTPP will connect the UK to a vast global free trade area consisting of 11 countries spanning Asia Pacific and the Americas (current members are: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Viet Nam).

• ●  The UK will be the third G7 member to join CPTPP, and the second largest economy in the group.

• ●  Trade between the UK and CPTPP countries was worth £113.4 billion or 6.6 per cent of total UK trade in 2022. Total UK exports (goods and services) to CPTPP countries were worth £61.3 billion in 2022.

• ●  One in every 100 UK workers was employed by a business headquartered in a CPTPP member nation in 2019, equating to over 400,000 jobs across the country.

• ●  CPTPP countries are expected to have around half of the world’s middle class consumers by 2050.

• ●  Membership of the trade group is expected to spark further investment in the UK by CPTPP countries, already worth almost £182 billion in 2021, by guaranteeing protections for investors.

The Bill will extend and apply to the United Kingdom, except for the measures relating to technical barriers to trade and geographical indications which will apply to Great Britain.

• ●  Joining CPTPP will play to British strengths and unlock opportunities for our globally respected services and digital sectors, which employ over 80 per cent of the UK workforce. The UK exported services worth £32.2 billion to member countries in 2022, including legal services to Australia, transportation services to Singapore, and pension services to Canada.

• ●  More than 99 per cent of current UK goods exports to CPTPP, including whisky and cars are set to be eligible for zero tariffs as UK businesses will have access to a market of over 500 million people.

o Tariffs of around 80 per cent will be eliminated on UK exports of whisky to Malaysia within 10 years, improving market access for UK whisky exporters.

o UK car manufacturers will benefit from the staged removal of tariffs of 30 per cent on UK exports of cars to Malaysia within 7 years.

o And the agreement will deliver new export opportunities for UK farmers whilst also safeguarding UK food safety standards.

• ●  Digital trade is creating a new global economy, with remotely delivered services from the UK to CPTPP worth £23 billion in 2021. Joining CPTPP will help remove the barriers our companies face like data localisation requirements, ensuring data can flow between the UK and CPTPP members.

• ●  The Government has ensured that joining CPTPP will not compromise our high standards of protection for the environment and workers’ rights and the NHS was kept off the table through the course of discussions as in all of our Free Trade Agreement negotiations.