British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reorienting himself after leaving the EU. He wants to join the CPTPP trade pact, to which Canada, Australia and Japan belong.
After leaving the European Union, Great Britain wants to join the trade agreement of the Pacific countries. The British government announced this on Sunday night.

The free trade area, which came into force in 2018 with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), consists of eleven countries. It includes the markets of Japan, Canada, Australia, Chile, Mexico, Singapore and Vietnam. The US had initially been planned to join the group, but ex-President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the negotiations.

“One year after we left the EU, we are forging new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits to the British people,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson quoted as saying. The move shows that Britain is “an enthusiastic champion of free trade”.
With the CPTPP, the Pacific states have simplified trade with one another. Numerous tariffs, for example on agricultural and

Industrial products were then reduced or completely abolished. Also, the agreement regulates many labour law and environmental protection issues and conditions for public tenders. The eleven-member states have created a transpacific domestic market where around 500 million people live, generating about 13 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.

The British government says it intends to submit its membership application in the coming week. Negotiations on the UK’s admission to the CPTPP are then due to start later this year.
Great Britain left the EU on January 31, 2020. However, the country only managed to agree on new trade relations with the European Union just under four weeks ago. However, there are still many points of contention and open questions. The agreement with the EU excludes the service sector that is so important for Great Britain. British architects, banks or insurance companies have since then had to apply if they want to be allowed in the EU business.