In its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), United Kingdom recently launched negotiations with of its 11 member countries. The partnership will give UK exporters and services firms better access to these markets. It will increase UK exports to these countries by £37 billionby 2030.

Joining the free trade area would boost growth and support British jobs. These benefits would increase over time, with the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea all having expressed interest in joining.

UK negotiating teams will be working over the coming months to ensure a good deal for businesses, producers and consumers across Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Membership would lower tariffs on key British exports like cars and whisky in industries employing hundreds of thousands of people and should mean tariff-free trade for 99.9 per cent of UK exports.

The deal should also benefit British farmers. With CPTPP countries set to account for 25 per cent of global import demand for meat by the end of the decade, joining would support farmers selling high-quality produce like beef and lamb into fast-growing markets like Mexico, the release said.