Britain officially joins Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement

Britain officially joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement on Sunday, which includes Japan, Australia and Canada, in an effort to deepen ties in the region and build global trade links after leaving the European Union.

Britain announced last year that it would join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in its largest trade deal since leaving the European Union.

Britain will be able to apply the agreement’s trade rules and lower tariffs with eight of the current members: Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The agreement will enter into force with Australia on December 24, and will apply to the last two members, Canada and Mexico, 60 days after ratification.

The agreement represents Britain’s first free trade deals with Malaysia and Brunei, but while it has concluded agreements with other countries, the TPP provisions go further, especially in giving companies options on how to use the “rules of origin” provisions.

Britain estimates the deal could be worth £2 billion ($2.5 billion) a year in the long term, or less than 0.1% of GDP.