Three years after it formally left the European Union, the UK has agreed to join a trade agreement with 11 countries in Asia and the Pacific. By lowering tariffs on products like cheese, vehicles, chocolate, machinery, gin, and whisky, joining the group will increase UK exports, according to the government.
However, the government's own estimates show being in the bloc will only add 0.08% to the size of the UK's economy. The trade area covers a market of around 500 million people.
In 2018, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam joined forces to form the Recessive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.
Membership of the CPTPP loosens restrictions on trade between members and reduces tariffs - a form of border tax - on goods. Together, the 11 members account for about 13% of the world's income and after 21 months of negotiations, the UK has become the first European country to join.
The government said the agreement was the UK's "biggest trade deal since Brexit". However, the gains for the UK from joining are expected to be modest. The UK already has free trade deals with all of the members except Brunei and Malaysia, some of which were rolled over from its previous membership of the EU.