London announces trade agreement with New Zealand
In particular, the UK hopes that this agreement will help open the doors to the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Association.
Since leaving the European Union, which became a reality on January 1, London has entered into trade agreements with the EU, Japan and Australia.
AFP
Following Australia and Japan, the UK on Wednesday announced a post-Brexit trade deal with New Zealand, strengthening its trade ties in the Indo-Pacific region and its ambition to integrate the trans-Pacific trade deal.
The deal was finalized on Wednesday during a video call between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern, Britain’s Foreign Trade Ministry said in a statement. “This is an excellent trade agreement for the United Kingdom, consolidating our long friendship with New Zealand and strengthening our ties with the Indo-Pacific region,” Boris Johnson was quoted as saying in the statement.
The UK hopes, in particular, to help open the doors of the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Association (CPTPP), “an 11-nation free trade zone with a GDP of $ 8.4 billion ($ 7.72 billion). francs)) in 2020. ”, According to the government press release. Signed in particular by New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Japan, it is the most important free trade pact in the region. The UK formally applied to join it in last February.
“New opportunities”
Since leaving the European Union, which became a reality on January 1, London has entered into trade agreements with the EU, Japan and Australia, or with European non-EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
The country officially launched negotiations for a free trade agreement with the six Arab Gulf countries in early October and is also seeking to strengthen its trade ties with the United States, without having been able to obtain a promise from Washington for the time being.
The agreement reached on Wednesday with New Zealand “will reduce red tape for companies, end tariffs on British exports and create new opportunities for technology and services companies,” according to the British government, which recalls that trade with Wellington amounted to 2.3 billion pounds (2.9 billion pounds). billion francs) last year.
But the Labor opposition has denounced a deal that only benefits “the mega-corporations that run New Zealand’s beef and dairy farms” at the expense of British farmers. “For UK jobs, growth and exports, this deal is another major failure,” Labor international trade official Emily Thornberry said in a statement.
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