Minister Ng concludes successful seventh meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission

From: Global Affairs Canada

News release

July 16, 2023 – Auckland, New Zealand – Global Affairs Canada

Today, in Auckland, New Zealand, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, concluded her participation in the seventh Commission meeting of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) hosted by New Zealand.

Minister Ng and her CPTPP partners welcomed the United Kingdom as the newest member of the agreement. As Canada’s third-largest single-country trading partner for goods and services, the U.K. is one of Canada’s closest partners. The U.K. will be the first country to accede to the CPTPP since it came into force and, as a result, the agreement will represent 14.6% of global GDP and provide access to nearly 590 million consumers.

During the Commission meeting, Minister Ng and CPTPP partners discussed growing inclusive, rules-based and sustainable trade, and how benefits of the CPTPP will grow with the U.K.’s accession.

Minister Ng highlighted the benefits that the CPTPP is already providing for Canadian businesses, farmers, exporters and workers. Canadian exports to new markets through the CPTPP have increased by nearly 35.8% since 2018, reaching more than $24 billion in 2022. A year after the CPTPP came into effect, 135,000 jobs were created by firms that saw their exports to the new CPTPP markets grow by 25% or more.

Minster Ng also attended the Inclusive Trade Action Group (ITAG) meeting, where she and Canada’s ITAG partners committed to working together to expand inclusive trade and ensure the benefits of trade are more widely shared. At the meeting, ITAG members endorsed the new Tāmaki Makaurau Joint Declaration on Sustainable and Inclusive Trade. Minister Ng also announced that Canada has completed its ITAG Three-Year Review report and emphasized that there have been sustainable development and inclusive trade benefits for Canada since joining the CPTPP.

On the margins of the CPTPP meeting, Minister Ng also participated in the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) ministerial meeting. During the meeting, Minister Ng emphasized that she was pleased with the constructive discussions that have taken place as part of the DEPA Accession Working Group for Canada and noted Canada’s readiness to meet the standards of this forward-looking agreement.

During her time in Auckland, Minister Ng also held bilateral meetings with counterparts from Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, to discuss ongoing and potential areas of bilateral cooperation.

Canada thanks New Zealand for its role as Chair of the CPTPP Commission in 2023 and looks forward to chairing the Commission in 2024. Canada will work with its CPTPP partners to continue to bring more like-minded countries into the agreement for the benefit of people and workers.

Quotes

“As we grow trade with key markets across the Indo-Pacific and around the world, we increase opportunities for our Canadian businesses and workers. Through the CPTPP, we expand trade and investment opportunities that are rules-based, inclusive and high-standard to create good jobs and strengthen our economies.”

- Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development”

Quick facts

  • The CPTPP is an ambitious and high-standard free trade agreement covering virtually all aspects of trade and investment. The CPTPP parties are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

  • On June 7, 2023, Minister Ng reiterated Canada’s support for Ukraine’s accession to the CPTPP

  • In the first 4 years after the CPTPP entered into force, total merchandise trade between Canada and Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam (the 5 CPTPP signatories that have ratified the agreement and that do not have other trade agreements with Canada) grew almost 34%—from $44.2 billion in 2018 to $59.1 billion in 2022.

  • Total exports from Canada to these 5 CPTPP markets grew 35.8% between 2018 and 2022, outpacing the growth of Canada’s exports to the rest of the world over the same period.

  • The tariff savings as a result of the CPTPP have been substantial. In 2020, an estimated $580 million in duties were saved as a result of Canadian exporters claiming CPTPP preferential tariffs.

  • From an inclusive trade perspective, SMEs accounted for 93.6% of all Canadian firms exporting to the new CPTPP partner markets in 2018, representing 37.1% of Canada’s exports to this region. In the first year of implementation, SMEs as a group increased their dutiable exports by 12.3%, while medium-large firms in particular saw their dutiable exports increase by 61.1%.

  • Female employment in Canada increased by 23,000 (11.4%) for firms that had high export growth of 25% or more to the new CPTPP markets 1 year after the agreement came into effect.

  • The CPTPP Commission was established after the agreement entered into force and is led by a minister or senior official from each of the CPTPP members.

  • The Commission oversees the implementation of the CPTPP and its potential expansion of the agreement to include new members.

  • CPTPP members’ agreement by consensus to undertake an accession process with the United Kingdom was the first such in the agreement’s history.

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Contacts

Shanti Cosentino
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development
343-576-4365
Shanti.Cosentino@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
media@international.gc.ca
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