Economy

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX was ready to try again at sending NASA’s next long-duration crew of the International Space Station to orbit on Thursday, about 72 hours after a first attempt was scrubbed due to a clogged filter in the launch system.Two NASA astronauts will be joined by a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates for a six-month science mission made up of experiments ranging from human cell growth in space to controlling combustible materials in microgravity.The SpaceX launch vehicle, consisting of a Falcon 9 rocket topped with an autonomously operated Crew Dragon capsule called Endeavour, was set for liftoff at 12:34 a.m. EST (0534 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.         The four-man crew should reach the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting some 250 miles (420 km) above Earth, about 25 hours after launch, early on Friday morning.Monday’s initial attempt to send the crew to space was called off less than three minutes before liftoff time when launch teams detected a problem in the flow of engine-ignition fluid used to start the rocket’s main thrusters. NASA said the issue was remedied by replacing a clogged filter and purging the system.NASA said on Wednesday the mission was “go” for launch with a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions. “All systems are looking good for launch,” though teams were keeping an eye on weather along the spacecraft’s ascent path, SpaceX said on Twitter.    Designated Crew 6, the mission marks the sixth long-term ISS team that NASA has flown aboard SpaceX since the private rocket venture founded by Musk – billionaire CEO of electric car maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc and social media platform Twitter – began sending American astronauts to orbit in May 2020.    The latest ISS crew is led by mission commander Stephen Bowen, 59, a onetime U.S. Navy submarine officer who has logged more than 40 days in orbit as a veteran of three space shuttle flights and seven spacewalks.Fellow NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, 37, an engineer and commercial aviator designated as the Crew 6 pilot, will be making his first spaceflight.Crew 6 also is notable for its inclusion of UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, 41, only the second person from his country to fly to space and the first to launch from U.S. soil as part of a long-duration space station team. Rounding out the four-man Crew 6 is Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, 42, who like Alneyadi is an engineer and spaceflight rookie designated as a mission specialist for the team.Fedyaev is the latest cosmonaut to fly aboard an American spacecraft under a ride-sharing deal signed in July by NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, despite heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Crew 6 team will be welcomed aboard the space station by seven current ISS occupants – three U.S. NASA crew members, including commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, the first Native American woman to fly to space, along with three Russians and a Japanese astronaut.The ISS, about the length of a football field and the largest human-made object in space, has been continuously operated for more than two decades by a U.S.-Russian-led consortium that includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries.The outpost was conceived in part as a venture to improve relations between Washington and Moscow following the Soviet Union’s collapse and the end of Cold War rivalries that gave rise to the original U.S.-Soviet space race in the 1950s and 1960s. (This story has been refiled to add the dropped word “up” in paragraph 2) More

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The Bank of Mexico said on Wednesday that inflation is taking longer than initially anticipated to return to its target, in large part due to the persistence of core inflation.Banxico, as Mexico’s central bank is known, forecast that annual headline inflation would hit 4.9% in the fourth quarter of 2023, up from a prior projection of 4.1%.The upward revision in the forecast trajectory for inflation “is fundamentally due to the fact that core inflation has not shown favorable dynamics and has displayed more persistence than expected,” Banxico said in its quarterly report. Core inflation strips out some volatile food and energy prices.Inflation is now seen nearing Banxico’s 3% target, plus or minus one percentage point, by the fourth quarter of 2024, a full quarter later than previously anticipated. Banxico has raised its key interest rate by 700 basis points since its rate-hiking cycle started in June 2021 to combat inflation. The bank’s five-member board voted unanimously last month to raise Mexico’s benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 11.00%, surprising analysts who had expected a 25-basis-point hike. Banxico’s report said the board’s next rate hike “could be of lower magnitude” given the hikes made so far.”I want to emphasize that we will consider the monetary stance we have already reached. In this hiking cycle we already have an increase of 700 basis points accumulated in the interest rate,” said Banxico Governor Victoria Rodriguez, adding that the board will continue watching how inflation and inflation expectations evolve. Deputy Governor Omar Mejia, the governing board’s newest member, said the interest rate was “close to reaching an adequate level,” echoing comments from an earlier interview published Wednesday.Banxico will publish the decision of its next monetary policy meeting on March 30. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Travel on U.S. roads in 2022 rose by 0.9% to 3.17 trillion miles but still remains below pre-COVID 19 levels after oil prices spiked last year, the Transportation Department said Wednesday.Road travel overall last year was up 29.3 billion miles even as it fell in December by 1.8%. In 2019, U.S. motorists logged 3.26 trillion miles for the year.U.S. driving sharply declined after COVID-19 lockdowns were imposed in early 2020 as many people worked from home. For 2020, driving fell 11% to 2.9 trillion miles, the lowest yearly total since 2003, but rose 8% in 2021 to 3.14 trillion miles.U.S. road deaths have risen sharply since the start of the pandemic despite a declining in miles traveled.U.S. traffic deaths jumped 10.5% in 2021 to 42,915, the largest number killed on American roads in a year since 2005 after rising 7% in 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said. Deaths fell 0.2% in the first nine months of 2022.As U.S. roads became less crowded during the pandemic, some motorists perceived police as less likely to issue tickets, experts said, likely resulting in riskier behavior on the roads, according to NHTSA. More

Good morning.Today we start with the news that Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, is preparing for the most significant shake-up of the firm since its founder Ray Dalio ceded control. And scroll down for our latest scoop on Adani Group, which has continued to dismiss short seller claims of fraud and share price manipulation to little effect.Here’s what to watch in the day ahead:Foreign affairs: The G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting concludes in Delhi today. Separately, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will host his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni.EU flash inflation figures: Consumer prices figures indicate that European inflation is likely to persist ahead of the publication of February euro area flash inflation data today.Earnings: Results are expected from companies including Anheuser-Busch InBev, China Tower, London Stock Exchange, Merck, Salvatore Ferragamo and Universal Music Group. Thanks for all the feedback on FirstFT’s new look. Keep it coming: [email protected] us in Singapore on March 16 for our inaugural Wealth Management Summit to discuss how best to scale up whilst navigating geopolitical tensions, regulatory shifts, and investment risks. Register today.Today’s top news1. Bridgewater will cut about 100 jobs while its Pure Alpha fund will stop accepting new money once it hits a certain size, one person familiar with the plan said. The cap on the fund will be set at a threshold that is 20-30 per cent lower than its peak size of $100bn. Learn what played a role in the decision.2. Exclusive: India’s Adani Group has told bondholders it has access to a $3bn credit line from backers including at least one sovereign wealth fund, as it tries to assuage concerns about its financial health in the wake of a damaging short seller report accusing it of fraud.3. Swiss prosecutors have charged four bankers with helping to hide tens of millions of Swiss francs on behalf of Vladimir Putin, in one of the first ever court cases in the west to directly involve assets allegedly belonging to the Russian president. Read more on the four individuals.Related read: Western allies are pushing the United Arab Emirates to halt exports of critical goods to Russia as they seek to starve Putin’s military of components to sustain its war against Ukraine.4. Belgium’s cyber security agency has linked China-sponsored hackers to an attack on a prominent Belgian politician, Samuel Cogolati, as European governments become increasingly willing to challenge Beijing over alleged cyber offences. Keep reading.5. Chinese factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in more than a decade in February. The data is an early indication of the country’s recovery following the end of strict Covid restrictions in December — but enthusiasm for China’s economic reopening is not universally shared. Markets reaction: Asian and European stocks rallied as robust Chinese manufacturing data lifted investors’ spirits after a muted trading earlier this week.The Big Read© FT montage/dpaCan the world’s workers press home their demands for better pay? This is the single biggest question facing central bankers around the globe as they fight to curb the rates at which prices are rising.We’re also reading and listening to . . . Lab leak theory: Whether Covid came from a lab or a seafood market is almost beside the point, writes Edward Luce. Humanity’s interest is to stop the next pandemic from happening. Mansion for sale: The Holme, set in four acres of London’s Regent’s Park, may become the UK capital’s most expensive house ever sold. 🎧 ‘Cash stuffing’: On this episode of the Money Clinic podcast, host Claer Barrett speaks to “cash stuffer” Euphemia Senna about the pros and cons of budgeting this way (and the digital equivalent).Chart of the dayThe world’s largest crypto exchange is under pressure. Investors have pulled more than $6bn out of a Binance-branded digital token known as BUSD in the past month, in a sign that a recent US regulatory crackdown on digital assets is making waves.Take a break from the newsYou’ve responded to an advert seeking crew for a dangerous naval expedition. A flyer for the polar voyage promised months of darkness, low wages and a slim chance of safe return. From the very start of the game The Pale Beyond, it’s clear that you’ll be lucky even to survive.

Trapped in the ice: ‘The Pale Beyond’

Additional contributions by Gordon Smith and Tee Zhuo More

Western allies are pushing the United Arab Emirates to halt exports of critical goods to Russia as they seek to starve Vladimir Putin’s military of components to sustain its war against Ukraine.Officials from the US, EU and UK have in recent weeks visited the wealthy Gulf state to spell out the wide-ranging scope of their trade restrictions, and to press UAE officials to clamp down on suspected sanctions busting, according to people involved in the trips.The US government is worried the UAE is becoming a hub for the shipment of items such as electronics that can be repurposed to help Russia’s war effort. One particular concern, according to people familiar with the discussions, is so-called “re-exporting”, where goods are routed through the UAE to sidestep restrictions. James O’Brien, head of the US office of sanctions co-ordination, joined EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan, and David Reed, director of the UK’s sanctions directorate, on a visit to the UAE last month to press their case. “Our main request [to the UAE] is that they stop the re-exports [and] acknowledge these re-exports are problematic,” said a western official, adding that “conversations are continuing”. Exports of electronic parts from the UAE to Russia jumped more than seven-fold last year to almost $283mn, making the category the largest type of product shipped in that direction, according to Russian customs data analysed by the Free Russia Foundation.

Jebel Ali, the port in Dubai, is one of the world’s biggest hubs: exports of electronic parts from the UAE to Russia jumped more than seven-fold last year to almost $283mn © Getty Images/iStockphoto

The UAE exported 15 times more microchips to Russia in 2022 than a year previously, with trade in the products jumping to $24.3mn last year from $1.6mn in 2021. The Gulf country also exported 158 drones to Russia last year, worth almost $600,000, according to the data. The discussions with the UAE come as western allies shift their focus from unleashing fresh rounds of sanctions to tightening enforcement and encouraging private sector compliance. O’Sullivan told the Financial Times last month that western countries had picked up “unusual spikes” in Russia’s trade with some states, while declining to name specific countries. The allies are watching the UAE, Turkey and countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The UAE is also seen as a favoured destination for wealthy Russians seeking a place to shelter their assets. US officials want to underline the potential consequences for businesses involved in facilitating the flow of goods that can be used by the Russian military. “Part of the message for the private sector — in any of these countries — is that they’re playing roulette,” O’Brien said. “Anyone who’s trading in these goods, they now are subject to sanctions because some of the goods they ship are showing up on the battlefield.” 

The UAE positions itself as a neutral regional power, balancing its close security and historical relations with western partners with increasingly close ties with military and economic powers such as Russia and China.Dubai has long been the region’s re-export hub; its Jebel Ali port remains one of the world’s largest transshipment zones. In an attempt to tighten enforcement on such export hubs, the EU introduced new measures late last year enabling it to sanction individuals who help European companies evade sanctions. Among Europe’s requests is for improved information on what the UAE actually exports to Russia, amid complaints about a lack of visibility. “The UAE recognises its critical role in safeguarding the integrity of the global financial system,” a UAE official said. “The UAE takes this responsibility extremely seriously, and has clear and robust processes in place to deal with sanctioned entities.”Wally Adeyemo, deputy US Treasury secretary, warned in a speech last week of “troubling patterns in several countries” where the Kremlin had “deepened its financial ties and trade flows”. He added that the US and its partners would act with “various economic tools” if countries were unwilling to “stamp out sanctions evasion”. Brian Nelson, the US Treasury’s under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, also visited the UAE last month.Tens of thousands of Russians have moved to the UAE, opening companies and buying properties in the Gulf’s commercial and tourist hub. The influx has raised concerns in western countries that some could be masking the involvement of sanctioned oligarchs.The UAE, which has approved a licence for Russian bank MTS, said it was studying options after the lender was hit with sanctions by the US and UK last month. More

The Welsh first minister has warned that this week’s UK-EU deal on Northern Ireland trade could shift traffic from his country’s ports to those in England and Scotland.Mark Drakeford said in an interview with the FT that the changes, which reduced controls on freight travelling directly from Britain to Northern Ireland, could damage the port of Holyhead and to a lesser extent those of Fishguard and Pembroke. “We hope that there won’t be perverse incentives for firms to avoid ports where the direction of travel is directly to the Republic in favour of ports that operate directly between Northern Ireland and GB,” he said on a trip to Brussels. “How will these new arrangements impact Holyhead? Fishguard? Pembroke Dock. It’s a concern for us that we’ll be watching carefully.”He said Brexit had “very badly affected” ports in Wales. The Dublin to Holyhead route was the main route used by Irish hauliers taking goods to France and beyond over the so-called “land bridge”. But once Brexit imposed customs paperwork and other checks, many switched to direct ferries to France. Holyhead traffic halved in January 2021 when Great Britain left the EU single market; it has now returned to 70 per cent of pre-Covid and pre-Brexit levels, Drakeford said. He added it had hit a “stubborn ceiling” and its share could now fall further.

Traffic at the Port of Holyhead halved in January 2021 when Great Britain left the EU single market © Anthony Devlin/Bloomberg

Northern Ireland remained in the EU single market for goods after Brexit to avoid a trade border on the island of Ireland. The so-called Windsor framework announced on Monday ended two years of rancour over the region’s post-Brexit trading arrangements, known as the Northern Ireland protocol. The new deal ensures freight moving directly from mainland Britain destined to remain in the region uses a “green lane” with lighter controls, while goods moving on to the Republic are subject to more rigorous checks. Despite the impact of the Windsor framework on Welsh ports, Drakeford welcomed the deal and said he hoped it would lead to improved ties between the UK and EU.“You hope that it opens the way to a different sort of more constructive, more collegiate relationship with our nearest and most important neighbours, and that in time that could lead to a change in some of the more regrettable parts of the [post-Brexit] Trade and Cooperation Agreement,” he said. Drakeford was in Brussels to press for UK involvement in projects such as Horizon Europe, the €96bn research programme, and Erasmus Plus, which allows young people to study at universities abroad. London elected to leave the Erasmus programme after Brexit.The Labour government in Wales is spending up to £65mn on Taith, its alternative to Erasmus. “We have found, by our standards, a large sum of money to be able to support 15,000 young people from Wales to visit, study, work, volunteer in other countries, and we will pay for 10,000 young people from other parts of the world to come and do the same thing in Wales. We’d rather be a member of Erasmus Plus.” Drakeford also wants a revival of jointly funded EU-UK development projects, such as the Wales-Ireland Interreg infrastructure programme, which continues on a smaller scale bilaterally. “There are those practical things that make a difference to the prospects of people living in Wales, on which the doors have been closed. I would hope that the other side of a deal on the protocol that those things could begin to reopen.” More

Today’s top storiesHigher than expected inflation of 9.3 per cent in Germany, 7.2 per cent in France and 6.1 per cent in Spain fuelled expectations that the European Central Bank would continue on its path of interest rate rises. Germany’s Bundesbank said it had suffered a €1bn hit from its bond holdings and warned future losses would wipe out its remaining financial buffers, thanks to the impact of higher rates. Wall Street’s biggest financial businesses warned of the growing threat to profits from a backlash against sustainable investing led by high-profile Republicans attacking “woke capitalism”.The UK government came under renewed scrutiny over its handling of the pandemic after a leaked dossier of WhatsApp messages involving former health secretary Matt Hancock raised new questions about the testing of people for Covid-19 in care homes.For up-to-the-minute news updates, visit our live blogGood evening.Is Brexit finally “done”?More than 48 hours after the UK-EU deal on trading arrangements for Northern Ireland was announced, hopes are high that after four months of diplomacy, the issue can finally be put to bed, subject to one (potentially huge) caveat: gaining assent from the Democratic Unionist party.The Windsor framework, as it is officially known, aims to smooth out problems with the existing Northern Ireland protocol, an attempt to reconcile the province’s status as part of the UK with the wish to avoid a hard border to the south with Ireland, an EU member state.The amendments make it easier for goods including food and medicines to ship between Great Britain and Northern Ireland via a “green lane” with minimal checks. Items continuing into Ireland, and thus into the EU’s single market, would be subject to stricter controls in a “red lane”. The framework will also give the Northern Ireland assembly — currently suspended after the DUP walked out over the operation of the protocol — a say over new EU rules.The new deal, prime minister Rishi Sunak stressed, would leave Northern Ireland enjoying the best of both worlds, retaining its status in the UK as well as enjoying opportunities from the EU single market. The irony of a confirmed Brexiter extolling the benefits of EU membership was not lost on political leaders in other parts of the country such as Scotland, which (as did Northern Ireland) voted to remain.Investors, however, say the successful implementation of the deal could undo some of the damage to sterling from the UK’s gloomy economic outlook. Warming relations between London and Brussels could also have beneficial spin-offs for the regulation of financial services and for Britain’s scientists, who may be able to re-enter the EU’s €96bn Horizon programme.The single biggest beneficiary could be Sunak himself, with a successful deal changing the mood music around his premiership and helping his government overcome its recent loss of prestige. The overwhelmingly positive reaction also strengthens Sunak’s ability to push the deal through even if the DUP formally objects.The FT editorial board characterises the agreement as a “significant moment for post-Brexit Britain”, which, with luck, could herald a sorely needed reset of relations with the EU and boost co-operation in other areas such as small-boat crossings in the Channel.“Assuming it can be navigated safely through Westminster, it may at last begin to drain some of the venom of the Brexit years,” it concludes.Need to know: UK and Europe economyBank of England governor Andrew Bailey pushed back against investors’ belief that many more interest rate rises were on the way to control inflation. Bailey said the BoE still had no presumption rates would rise from their current level of 4 per cent.UK house prices had their biggest fall in a decade in the year to February as higher interest rates took effect, according to mortgage provider Nationwide.UK grocery prices in February rose 17.1 per cent, the fastest rate in 15 years, adding £811 to the average household’s annual bill. Discount chain Lidl became the fifth out of the big six supermarket chains to ration salad vegetables, fuelling criticism of government policies as well as retailers’ strategies. Spain said the problem was driven by bad weather rather than Brexit.New financial innovation hubs in cities across the UK and placement opportunities for students in fintech groups are part of government-backed plans to make the country a “technology and science superpower”.Ten EU countries have formed a nuclear energy alliance despite opposition from Germany and Austria to having atomic power considered as a climate-friendly source.Turkey’s economy grew at a rate of 5.6 per cent in 2022, much higher than in G7 economies and emerging markets, highlighting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strategy of prioritising growth over fighting inflation. The country intends to go ahead with its general election on May 14 despite the devastation caused by the recent earthquake.Need to know: Global economyThere are clear signs that China has bounced back following the ending of its pandemic restrictions as new PMI data showed factory activity in February expanded at its fastest rate in more than a decade. Factory owners are on a global charm offensive to win back business. Hong Kong finally ditched compulsory mask wearing.New government rules mean US chipmakers will be barred from expanding in China for 10 years if they want to benefit from the $39bn fund to build a leading-edge domestic semiconductor industry.A still-tight labour market in the US has led a growing number of employers to illegally use teenagers to fill graveyard shifts, with violations of child labour rules rising 37 per cent during 2022.Bola Tinubu, the former governor and self-styled godfather of Lagos, was declared the winner of Nigeria’s closest presidential election since its return to democracy in 1999. Opposition parties are disputing the result and have called for a rerun. Our Big Read examines whether higher wages will keep global inflation at elevated levels. The head of Man Group, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, told the FT it would “take a lot of years before inflation is put to bed again. We’re in a different paradigm.”Need to know: businessJaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors is demanding £500mn from the UK government to set up a new battery factory, a decision that could be “pivotal” for the future of the UK car industry and the transition to electric vehicles. LG Energy Solution, South Korea’s biggest battery company, is betting that climate-friendly tax breaks will lead to the US leapfrogging China as the world’s biggest EV battery market.The EU is focusing its long-running antitrust probe against Apple on the way it restricts apps such as Spotify from telling users about subscription options. EU commissioner Thierry Breton said Big Tech needed a “radical shift” in its business models as he set out a 12-week consultation on telecoms infrastructure.There were more signs of UK consumers tightening their belts as online retailer Ocado reported “awful” results and a £500mn loss. US retail giant Target also warned of pressures on consumer spending.Large global companies are also feeling the pinch: many are demanding writedowns on bills or payment delays on their legal bills. Just Eat Takeaway was hit by a €5bn writedown on the mergers that created Europe’s biggest food delivery group, revealing the cost of buying rivals at the top of the sector’s lockdown-driven boom. The World of WorkThere is much disagreement about what it is causing ever more sick Britons to drop out of the workforce. Columnist Sarah O’Connor offers a practical solution: employ occupational therapists, and lots of them.The UK desperately needs to tackle its shortage of skills and workers, says the FT editorial board. With slowing population growth ahead, a revamped education and training system could address low productivity and workplace inactivity, it argued.Some good newsMuch of the world’s biodiversity is in decline, highlighted by increasing numbers of animal species being listed as threatened. Reason then to celebrate environmental legislation in Australia that has helped 29 to recover, including the growling grass frog, the humpback whale and the yellow-footed rock-wallaby.Jumping for joy: Humpback whale and calf off Cape Byron in Australia. © AP More

Rishi Sunak’s deal on Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading regime could have an unexpected spin-off: helping Britain to imminently seal a long-awaited transpacific trade deal.British government officials admit the row over EU-UK customs arrangements for Northern Ireland has been raised as an issue in trade talks with 11 countries in the Pacific region.Trade experts confirmed that members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership — a group that includes Canada, Japan and Mexico — were worried about the issue.They said Britain’s threat to unilaterally rewrite its Brexit treaty with the EU over Northern Ireland trade arrangements had raised concerns in the Pacific about the UK’s place in a rules-based trade organisation.In particular, there were fears that Britain’s threat to rip up an international treaty — now dropped by Sunak, the prime minister — could have set a precedent for future CPTPP applicant countries, notably China.“They have been raising it,” said Sam Lowe, a trade expert and partner at Flint Global. “The CPTPP is a rules-based group and very respectful of order. It’s important that members are upstanding citizens.”Lowe said there was a suspicion that the US, which was pushing Sunak to strike a Brexit deal with the EU, may have put pressure on CPTPP members to raise their concerns.David Henig, trade expert at the European Centre For International Political Economy, said: “Certain members were watching the Northern Ireland situation carefully because they feared China.”He said there was a risk that Britain could be seen as a “lawbreaker” if it passed legislation — the proposed Northern Ireland protocol bill — to unilaterally rewrite the UK-EU Brexit treaty. “The CPTPP is a high-standards, rules-based body,” he said. “Plus China has applied to join.” As part of the UK-EU deal struck on Monday, Sunak announced he was ditching the Northern Ireland protocol bill.Discussions on Britain’s accession to the CPTPP are under way in Vietnam this week, attended by trade minister Nigel Huddleston, with hopes rising that an agreement could be tied up soon.UK government insiders confirmed that confusion about the exact customs status of Northern Ireland had been raised in the talks and that the so-called Windsor framework agreed by Sunak and the EU this week provided “certainty”.However, they downplayed suggestions that CPTPP countries were concerned about Britain’s reliability as an international partner, insisting this had not featured in recent discussions in Vietnam.

The Department for Business and Trade said: “Joining CPTPP will mean UK businesses are eligible for tariff-free access on over 99 per cent of goods exported to a market of over 500mn customers and create new opportunities for modern industries like tech and services, supporting high-value jobs across the UK. “We intend to join on terms that work for the UK’s interests and domestic priorities and look forward to concluding negotiations at the earliest opportunity.”The CPTPP is a free-trade area comprising 11 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.Britain would be the first country to join from outside the region. Concluding a deal with the bloc would allow Sunak to claim that he is exploiting post-Brexit freedoms to strike ambitious new trade deals. More