Nishimura says TPP to start talks on UK joining pact

Last time I checked, the UK was on neither side of the Pacific.

Britain left the EU after a national referendum and years of tough negotiations with the EU countries. Now the country is joining the TPP and ready to hand over part of its sovereignty to the trade organization. What’s the point?

"Last time I checked, the UK was on neither side of the Pacific"

No, but it is an important market for Japanese companies and Japan and the UK have a lot in common. The UK would a good fit for the TPP.

With no friends and a flunking economy, it's interesting to see Japan pursuing these trade pacts in order to survive.

Taiwan should be in the CPTPP, not a nation on another continent. Especially when that nation has shown stubbornness and poor negotiating skills when it comes to economic pacts.

The UK have a tendency to place their interests above the group, which would lead to another 5 years of arguing to and fro before ratification of the CPTPP.

 Now the country is joining the TPP and ready to hand over part of its sovereignty ...

Vietnamese, Peruvians and others would not have "free movement" rights in the UK, to mention just one of many examples of how the TPP and EU are distinctly different from each other, particularly when it comes to "sovereignty."

UK is now desperate. Beggers

The UK has lost around $1 billion a week since the Brexit vote. The Government's own figures show that after 10 years of Tory austerity, Brexit and the pandemic, vast swathes of the country are now as poor as Mississippi or West Virginia in the US. That's really poor. The much-trumpeted trade deal with Australia will take years to finalise and actually undercut British farmers, eventually contributing only a modest boost to the UK economy of around 0.0025% over 15 years.

No wonder the Tory government is desperate to join any trade group that will have it.

The Brits of course have the right to do whatever they feel is best for their nation. But this whole Brexit thing seems like they cut off their nose to spite their face, without a plan for how they would deal with not having a nose. I don't think the people who voted for it really thought it through.

Britain left the EU after a national referendum and years of tough negotiations with the EU countries. Now the country is joining the TPP and ready to hand over part of its sovereignty to the trade organization. What’s the point?

Irrespective of one’s view on the EU, the TPP, and Britain’s membership of either, it should be recognized that the EU and TPP are utterly different things.

TPP is simply a free trade agreement. The EU is an (incomplete) single market with common rules and regulations and freedom of movement, with institutions with law-making and law enforcing powers, sole control of trade policy, a diplomatic service, aspirations to common foreign policy and a military force under it’s direct control, etc.

Like it or loathe it, the EU is a whole different thing to TPP. And has a direct bearing on Britain’s aim to be a member of one and not the other.

The Brits of course have the right to do whatever they feel is best for their nation. But this whole Brexit thing seems like they cut off their nose to spite their face, without a plan for how they would deal with not having a nose. I don't think the people who voted for it really thought it through.

Strangerland, perhaps partly that, but the debate about EU membership was also about much more than trade.

The same thing can be seen in the strong support for Scottish independence - in terms of the Scottish economy, leaving the UK would be a much tougher transition than Brexit, but again, it’s driven by many other things..

Didn't agree much with Trump but pulling out of the TPP was correct.

It would create extra-legal, trans-national arbitration that could overturn countries' environmental and social welfare laws if companies showed it was adversely impacting their bottom lines.

UK can only pick up crumbs left by countries outside the EU. Beggers can't be choosers and Japan knows this. Whether this UK-Japan trade will be evenly beneficial, we'll see. If someone is going to get the short end of the stick, I know you it will be.

With no friends and a flunking economy, it's interesting to see UK pursuing these trade pacts in order to survive.

Sometimes you must take a step back to move forward. Who knows maybe UK will be good for the wild west TPP

Desperate Britain...

If someone is going to get the short end of the stick, I know you it will be.

Stupid typo. Grrrr!

If someone is going to get the short end of the stick, I know who it will be.

Hint: starts with U and ends in K.

zichi - wrong 51%

Fighto I disagree with you -but I also agree with you. Taiwan good fit. UK bad fit

Brexit hammered my finances from the collapse in the value of sterling at the referencum. Costs have increased across the board, some suppliers no longer deliver to the UK and I've stopped exporting. Brexit was economic suicide. They are using Covid and unnecessarily extensive lockdowns to cover it up and the media is pandering to the government, not mentioning it. Lack of migrant labour is damaging what it left of some sectors. A bizarre attempt to internalise tourism by locking us all in the UK has resulted in an upsurge of anti-social behaviour in crowded tourist areas. The UK is an isolated economic train wreck run by clowns. Yet Johnson will just keep handing out borrowed cash and winning elections. Partly because the opposition have all but collapsed. Partly because a democratic nation is only as good as the quality of its electorate.