British Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has signed an agreement for the UK to join a major Indo-Pacific trade bloc, Sky News reports.
On Sunday, in New Zealand, Kemi Badenoch signed a protocol to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
It's the UK's biggest trade agreement since Brexit, with tariff cuts for UK exporters to a group of countries whose combined gross domestic product (GDP) will now amount to £12 trillion, which officials say is 15% of global GDP.
Officials believe the agreement will come into effect in the second half of 2024, after which the UK will become a voting member of the bloc.