ALIGNMENT ON SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Meanwhile, negotiations with the GCC – which started more than two years ago – are continuing. The issue has prompted domestic controversy recently after the House of Commons International Trade Committee produced a report calling for the scrapping of any trade deal because of concerns over human rights abuses in the Gulf states. Concerns voiced by the all-
party committee included “the continued repression of women, the repression of the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, and a crackdown on activists and the civic space”. “We urge the UK government
to be openly prepared to end the negotiations rather than accept an unsatisfactory agreement,” said the parliamentary report, which also called
for any trade deal
to include undertakings by the GCC to commit its members to decarbonisation policies. Responding to the committee,
the government – which believes an FTA with the Gulf states could boost the UK economy by up to $1.6 billion a year – maintained that Britain was a “leading advocate for human rights”, but free trade agreements were “not generally the most effective or targeted tool to advance human rights issues”. Closer to home, the new Labour
government is keen to pursue ties with its primary trading partner: the European Union. In a recent interview with the ‘Financial Times’, Douglas Alexander, the junior trade minister, said he wants to forge a much closer trade relationship with Brussels. Describing the Conservatives’
Brexit deal as “sub-standard”, he said: “Geography still matters with trade so it isn’t a surprise that the EU accounts for 47% of the UK’s total trade.” His immediate aims include a deal with the EU on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications; a reduction in barriers to agricultural trade; and new, non-tariff rules on the labelling of products.
Of course, one potentially
important trade deal is virtually in the bag: the UK’s membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – a trade bloc currently consisting of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Ratification of the UK’s membership became a reality at the end of August when Peru became the sixth member nation to give its approval to the UK’s application, virtually assuring that Britain would, by the end of this year, become the first European country to join the free trade bloc. Although analysts do not believe
membership will have a huge impact on the UK’s economic fortunes in the short term, there is more optimism about the long- term prospects of accessing a market of more than a half a billion people. Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, told the ‘Observer’ newspaper that joining the CPTPP would represent a “real win for big- hitting British exporters”, as well as
boosting the prospects of smaller businesses keen to break into Pacific Rim markets for the first time. Marco Forgione said that
membership of the CPTPP marked an important stage in the UK’s trading future. “British businesses now have tariff-free access to some of the fastest-growing markets in the world to sell our goods and our world-leading services. This is an opportunity which can help reshape the UK economy. “At a time when global trade has
been weaponised, this partnership can help the UK establish resilient and robust supply chains across Southeast Asia, Central and South America. In a world of growing geopolitical uncertainty, the expanding trading community of CPTPP nations offers an important counterpoint.” The outstanding question now
though is if this agreement generates contentment among UK exporters, then what sort of delirious response would that most cherished – and most elusive – FTA of them all generate...a trade deal with the US? That remains to be seen.
6 July 2024. Berlin, Germany.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy meets with Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Annalena Baerbock.
Picture by Ben Dance/FCDO
59
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS
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