BRITAIN has set its sights on a mega-trade deal next year with New Zealand, Canada and Australia, according to one Tory MP, as the country reaps the benefits of Brexit.
Britain is eyeing up a mega-trade deal next year with a huge multilateral agreement between New Zealand, Canada and Australia. A so-called CANZUK deal would represent "the world’s largest polity and its third-largest economy," according to experts. This comes as earlier this week the UK agreed to a free trade deal with New Zealand which it says will benefit consumers and businesses.
The New Zealand deal will cut costs for exporters and open up New Zealand's job market to UK professionals, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said it "affords opportunities in both directions for great sharing of produce".
She said current trade with New Zealand, currently worth £2.3bn a year, had the potential to increase by up to 30 percent by 2030.
Paul Bristow, the Tory MP for Peterborough, said the latest post-Brexit trade deal was a "good day for Britain and all those that believe in CANZUK".
He claimed that a CANZUK trade deal was next on the horizon for Britain.
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Mr Bristow told GB News: "We already have the deal with Australia.
"We now have this fantastic deal with New Zealand, which will mean 10 percent reduction on tariffs on British companies exporting goods over to New Zealand.
"Next year we might see a trade deal with Canada.
"When all three trade deals are in place, I think a multilateral trade deal would be a really good idea so we can form those closer bonds with our oldest allies."
Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Trade Secretary, criticised the New Zealand deal, claiming the deal would "cut employment in our farming communities, produce zero additional growth, and generate just £112m in additional exports for UK firms compared to pre-pandemic levels".
The UK and Canada already have a trade agreement rolled over from the EU deal, but the two sides are currently in negotiations to deepen and extend this.
Britain has already struck post-Brexit trade deals with both Australia and Japan.
Back in March, Brexiteer columnist Jonathan Saxty wrote in the Toronto Sun: "CANZUK represents a long-overdue drive for closer ties between the four Commonwealth Realms.
"At a stroke, CANZUK would represent the world’s largest polity and its third-largest economy, with unprecedented geopolitical reach and interoperability potential, augmenting the West at a time when many other actors seem to lack the ability or willingness to step up."
It is thought that a multilateral deal with New Zealand, Australia and Canada would also boost negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) free trade area.
The CPTPP, of which the three countries are a member, is another mega-deal that Britain hopes to land by the end of 2022.
It also would not surprise me if Boris said we will give you a sweet trade deal if you also buy into the Type 26 Frigate program...
But the main reason will be for the CPTPP, the UK now has Aussie, Japan and NZ, a few of the big guns in the block. Every nation has to agree to allow a new state to join and any member can veto or stop a state from joining. But if you have these three countries saying, the UK will help and not break it's promises (looking at you China) the rest of the block will probably follow.
If the UK is in the block, there is less likely a chance that China will be accepted even though at this stage it is pretty low chance already.
The interesting one on this with China is, Taiwan have also applied to join, and it Taiwan gets in and China doesn't shit will hit the fan.
