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UK Accession to the CPTPP: Benefits, Opportunities, and Navigation Guide

On 15 December 2024, the UK officially became a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), marking a significant achievement as the first non-founding and first European country to join. The UK is now the second-largest economy in the group, after Japan, raising the collective value of the CPTPP economies to £12 trillion, covering over a half a billion people.

Other members of the CPTPP include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The agreement means that the UK can trade freely with Malaysia and Brunei for the first time.

CPTPP membership allows for strengthened integration and influence amongst the Asia-Pacific region, positioning the UK at the forefront of international trade and security, as outlined in the Government’s Integrated Review in 2021.

Driving Growth: Opportunities for UK Businesses

The CPTPP offers a wide range of benefits to UK businesses by enhancing market access, investment opportunities and facilitating digital trade.

The CPTPP provides preferential access to 11 dynamic, fast-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region which contributed £113 billion to UK trade in 2022, reflecting a 10% growth between 2018 and 2022. These economies will continue to play an increasingly important role in the global economy and, as such, provide a myriad of opportunities for the expansion of the UK tech sector both now and in the future.

The agreement creates significant investment opportunities, as evidenced by the level of investment from CPTPP countries to the UK, which was estimated to be around £182bn in 2021. Due to the facilitation of non-discriminatory treatment for investors, equal access to CPTPP markets for UK businesses is guaranteed.

Over 99% of UK goods exported to CPTPP countries are set to be tariff-free eligible. Reduced costs and improved market access will enhance UK goods and services competitiveness, further incentivising UK investment in the Asia-Pacific region. The barriers CPTPP removes will encourage new opportunities in sectors such as manufacturing, technology, e-commerce and digital services.

Regarding digital trade, the CPTPP’s E-Commerce Chapter, details digital trade provisions involving, prohibiting data localization requirements, removing unjustified data-flow limitations and strengthened data-protection standards. The agreements modern regulations on data sharing improve the efficiency of cross-border data flows, which is crucial for modern supply chains and digital business models.

CPTPP Navigation Guidance

The UK Government have provided over 70 practical guidance documents including country-specific guides, available through the CPTPP great.gov.uk site, to help businesses navigate the agreement’s provisions. These cover topics including as rules of origin, business mobility, and tariff reductions. You will also find detailed sector-specific information and commercial opportunities available within these markets.

CPTPP tariff information is available through using the check how to export goods tool to provide details on exporting specific goods, customs and general information for ratified countries. For countries where we have the bilateral trade agreements and CPTPP, the tool will also show the different tariff rates. The UK Integrated Online Tariff Tool also lets you check import duties and allows you to check the status of available tariff rate quotas.

If you have a broader question about exporting, please contact DBT’s Export Support Service Team.

 

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Original article link: https://www.techuk.org/resource/uk-accession-to-the-cptpp-benefits-opportunities-and-navigation-guide.html

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