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After leaving the EU, Great Britain is trying to conclude its own free trade agreements
Photo: Stephen B. Morton / dpa
Great Britain continues to push for new trade agreements after Brexit.
One year after leaving the EU, Great Britain wants to apply for inclusion in the trade agreement of the Pacific countries.
The British government announced.
Trump once stopped the CPTPP negotiations
The members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which came into force in 2018, include Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Singapore and Vietnam.
The US had originally planned to join the group, but ex-President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the negotiations.
"We are entering into new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits to the people of Great Britain," Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quoted in the statement.
The move shows that Britain is an "enthusiastic champion of free trade".
Trade Minister Liz Truss also expects "enormous opportunities" from joining the transpacific trade agreement.
Automakers and whiskey producers would benefit from low tariffs.
It could also create new jobs and greater prosperity in the UK.
Karan Bilimoria of the British employers' association CBI spoke of a "new chapter for our independent trade policy".
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The opposition Labor Party expressed itself more skeptically.
After years of Brexit negotiations, the question arises as to why the government now wants to join "another economic bloc on the other side of the world without any significant public involvement," said Labor trade expert Emily Thornberry.
It is also unclear whether Britain, as a member of the CPTPP, could veto a possible accession of China to the agreement.
For example, the CPTPP members have agreed duty-free trade on many goods and common standards.
The eleven member states have thus created a single market with around 500 million people, in which 13 percent of global gross domestic product is generated.
Great Britain left the EU on January 31, 2020.
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flg / dpa / AFP
