According to the British prime minister’s office, around 150 negotiators from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) member states gathered in London this month. As for the deal with India, British International Trade secretary Kemi Badenoch was dispatched to New Delhi to advance the free trade talks.
Neither were successful in producing a final agreement. London now aims to conclude the two deals in 2023.
The UK has been looking to increase involvement in the Indo-Pacific region, and the two deals represent a key piece of economic diplomacy in the region. Under former prime minister Liz Truss, the UK had promised to complete negotiations to join the CPTPP by the end of this year. Truss’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in April set a goal to finish negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement by the end of October.
In February 2021, the UK applied to become the first non-founding member of the CPTPP, which was signed by 11 countries along the Pacific rim in 2018. But the two sides are at odds over the level of market access in certain fields that the pact’s original members want from the UK, a source familiar with the matter said.
Meanwhile, India is urging the UK to ease work visa restrictions under their bilateral free trade agreement – a change some members of the UK ruling Conservative Party say could lead to a surge in immigration.
Headwinds against these deals have grown as British prime minister Rishi Sunak, who took office in late October, shifts away from his predecessors’ focus on speedy negotiations.
After exiting the European Union in January 2020, the UK under Johnson began pursuing trade negotiations with countries outside the union – something it could not do as an EU member. Truss, who was then international trade secretary, played a major role in this push, which was meant to highlight the benefits of Brexit.
The UK has since concluded trade agreements with at least 70 countries and regions, including those that do not have a free trade agreement with the EU, such as Australia and New Zealand.
But there is growing criticism that the rush for new deals has hurt British interests.
In November, George Eustice, the former agriculture secretary, said the UK “gave away far too much for far too little” in the free trade agreement with Australia. One of his examples was how London agreed to gradually reduce tariffs on Australian beef and mutton, even though Canberra bans beef imports.
Some Conservative Party members suggest that in future deals, negotiations regarding agriculture and food should be left to relevant ministries.
The British prime minister’s office has stressed its continued commitment to signing the CPTPP and the UK-India free trade agreement under Sunak. But some within the government argue that British farmers and business owners should not be sacrificed for the sake of meeting deadlines. Negotiations could be delayed further if the government bows to domestic pressure.
The British government is also set to miss its goal to cover 80% of external trade with free trade agreements by the end of 2022. Official data shows the figure stands at less than 70% amid stalled negotiations with the US, which account for 17% of British trade on goods and services.