U.K. to Launch Formal Bid to Join Transpacific Trading Bloc – Bloomberg Tax

The U.K. will formally request to join an 11-member transpacific trading bloc Monday, with negotiations expected to start later this year.

Since leaving the European Union, Britain has signed bilateral trade agreements of varying depths with seven members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, including Japan, Vietnam and Singapore.

The U.K. Department for International Trade said it hoped accession to the group would build on these to facilitate easier business travel, eliminate tariffs on British exports such as whisky and cars, and simplify rules of origin so that U.K. manufacturers can use more components…