London, Dec 9 (HNA) – British International Trade Secretary Liz Truss stated on Wednesday the United Kingdom was “one step closer” to joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership after signing a deal on commerce with Canada.
Speaking on the agreement London and Ottawa signed earlier in the day, Truss said such a document would bring “certainty for jobs and industries” and “a springboard for a new, more advanced trade deal.”
Back in November, Britain, and Canada agreed that trade between the two countries would continue to function on the same terms they did when the United Kingdom was a part of the EU.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s strategic pivot to Asia. Before President Donald J. Trump withdrew from the United States in 2017, the TPP was set to become the world’s largest free trade deal, covering 40 percent of the global economy.
For its supporters, such a deal would have expanded U.S. trade and investment abroad, spurred economic growth, lowered consumer prices, and created new jobs, while also advancing U.S. strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific region. But its detractors, including Trump, saw the deal as likely to accelerate U.S. decline in manufacturing, lower wages, and increase inequality.
With the United States on the sidelines, the remaining TPP countries have forged ahead with a new version of the pact, known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), keeping most of the original intact. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has said he does not support rejoining the TPP as it stands, but that he may try to renegotiate it to include stronger labor and environmental provisions.