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Britain will join a major trade bloc that will speed up negotiations on a bilateral deal between Ottawa and London.
Countries from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) have given the green light for the UK to become the 12th country in the trading bloc, and the only one outside the Pacific.
“It’s a good day,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng said in an interview. “We have always supported England, from Day 1.”
Ng said Canada was the first member of the bloc to push for Britain to be included, even though Japan had facilitated Britain’s accession process, and London and Ottawa had sparred for more beef exports to Britain.
“We share values. We have interoperability in many of our sectors. We have essentially collaborated throughout our history,” said Ng.
Since the deal was launched four years ago, Ng said it has increased Canadian exports to the bloc by almost a fifth, and 40 per cent to Southeast Asia.
“When you look at countries like Vietnam, you just jump,” he said. “It’s a good agreement, but having the UK there helps us do something else – in the net-zero industry of the future.”
Britain will be the first member not to touch the Pacific Ocean, apart from the remote Pitcairn Islands, a British overseas territory located between New Zealand and South America.
In a statement, the British High Commission in Ottawa said that joining the bloc “creates an opportunity to expand our trade relations in the Asia-Pacific region, providing different opportunities with other countries.”
It could speed up discussions on bilateral deals
British and Canadian officials said the move should speed up negotiations for a bilateral deal between the two countries, as they have established common ground on issues such as labor rights and supporting small businesses through the Pacific deal.
The Pacific deal has also resolved a number of technical issues, reportedly including food sanitation standards.
Ottawa and London have been operating an interim trade deal since Britain left the European Union, but the post-Brexit deal is due to expire next year.
Trade between Canada and the UK was worth more than $41 billion in the 12 months ending last September, according to the High Commission.
A British official familiar with the two trade negotiations with Canada, who asked that his name be withheld because he was not a spokesman, said Ottawa had supported London’s accession while insisting on the benefits of Britain joining the group.
“He was the first one to raise his hand and support us, and it was great,” he said. “Canada has been a tough negotiator, I think it’s fair, but they’ve been fair and we’re in a place we’re happy with.”
He said negotiations for a bilateral deal should be completed by mid-2024.
“We think we’re halfway there, where we hope to be at this stage,” he said. Being part of a larger block “will make it easier to move faster.”
Ng agreed, saying that the Pacific agreement aligns the values of the two countries in terms of trade.
Cheese sales and Canada
That leaves bilateral discussions up to market access issues. Britain still wants to be able to sell more cheese in the Canadian-run dairy sector, which is often challenged in trade courts.
Britain’s membership of the Pacific trade agreement still needs to be formally ratified by all members of the bloc. After the incident, Ng said the UK could boost Canada’s efforts to forge closer ties with countries across Asia.
“We are really doing more work to strengthen relations with our friends and allies who also share our values, like the rules-based international order, and Britain is a friend, an ally,” Ng said.
“So having the UK in the CPTPP strengthens what Canada is doing in the Indo-Pacific.”
Hugh Stephens, a fellow with the Canadian Institute of Global Affairs, said Canada would benefit from having Britain in the bloc, as having another advanced economy in the group would incentivize more Asian countries to join.
Last November, a senior Global Affairs Canada official told MPs “there is still work to be done” for the UK to join, in part because the original signatories saw the UK as a test case for admitting the first members after the original launch. agreement, which “sets the bar” for other applicants.
Assistant deputy minister Paul Thoppil made the comments to the House of Commons committee on Canada-China relations, which on Thursday released a report on relations with Taiwan.
In the report, MPs recommended that the government support Taiwan’s bid to join the Pacific trade agreement, to show support for democratic countries and increase trade with the island, which plays a critical role in technical manufacturing.
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