From today, the terms of the UK’s accession to the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership have entered into force with Mexico. This follows Mexico’s recent ratification of the UK’s accession, and it means that UK traders are now able to trade with Mexico under the terms of the CPTPP for the first time. This supports the Government growth mission by providing tariff benefits, new digital provisions and additional market access beyond the current bilateral UK-Mexico FTA, with benefits for UK traders and consumers.

Benefits for UK traders and consumers

British farmers and food and drink manufacturers will benefit from improved opportunities to trade with Mexico. For example, chocolate producers will benefit from zero tariffs when exporting to Mexico, compared with tariffs of up to around 25% at present.

In addition, cheese exporters will receive tariff-free access to Mexico through a shared quota, with further shared duty-free quotas also available for other dairy products.

There will also be opportunities for pork sectors, with duty-free access for pork from day one.

Lower tariffs on Mexican exports, including honey, chocolate, asparagus, sweetcorn and orange juice, may also benefit British consumers if those reductions are passed on through lower prices.

The UK’s current trading arrangements with Mexico contain only limited commitments on temporary business travel. By contrast, CPTPP includes more comprehensive commitments for UK businesspersons, including the ability for dependants to accompany intra-corporate transferees, as well as commitments covering investors, independent professionals and contractual service suppliers for the first time.

UK financial services firms will also benefit from greater legal certainty when trading with clients based in Mexico, including when providing portfolio management and e-payment card services.

For UK traders exporting to Mexico, CPTPP introduces new digital trade and supply chain benefits which do not exist in our current bilateral agreement. It supports cross-border data flows, protects source code and cryptography, and prohibits unjustified data localisation requirements, giving businesses greater certainty, security and lower compliance costs.

It also allows cumulation of content from other CPTPP countries, increasing flexibility and strengthening export resilience for industries with complex supply chains, including in the automotive industry.

Other CPTPP updates

Mexico is the tenth country with whom the UK’s CPTPP accession has entered into force, out of a possible 11. The UK also welcomes the progress Canada is making on the legislation required to implement the UK’s CPTPP Column 2WSis located here

accession protocol. The UK currently expects this to be completed later this year, and we look forward to the agreement entering into force with Canada at the appropriate moment.

As the trade strategy outlines, CPTPP is a “living” agreement, intended to evolve with the wider global economy. Earlier this month, on 6 May, CPTPP parties substantially concluded Costa Rica’s accession negotiations following 18 months of negotiations, demonstrating that CPTPP remains open and dynamic. The UK also remains closely engaged in the recently launched accession process for Uruguay.

I look forward to keeping you updated on future CPTPP developments.

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