“I think we should also talk to like-minded countries, because they recognize that the world is changing,” he said. “I’ve been talking to the leaders in Japan, in Singapore, in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, about how we, the U.K., can trade in an easier and better way with them and whether we as a group of countries can trade with other countries in an easier and better way.”
The countries mentioned are all members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), an Asia-Pacific trading bloc which the U.K. joined in December.
Asia-Pacific bloc ‘more important than ever’
Starmer’s words were borne out in the government’s new trade strategy, where the U.K. committed to working alongside partners and allies to negotiate and agree an “ambitious agenda for future plurilateral agreements.”
It describes the role of groupings such as CPTPP as “more important than ever in the current global context.”
“We will use CPTPP as a platform to support the wider multilateral and plurilateral system, and to encourage deeper trading relationships between countries and groupings committed to liberal rules-based trade,” the strategy said.
At a recent meeting in Korea, CPTPP members committed to work with the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia — to liberalize global trade in light of “significant challenges” facing the international trading environment.