The United Kingdom has formally joined a key trade pact centered on the Asia-Pacific region.

The U.K.'s membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, was formalized on Sunday when a protocol on the pact including the country as its 12th member came into effect.

The U.K. is the first country to join the pact since it was founded in 2018 by 11 signatories including Japan, Australia, Singapore and Canada.
With this new membership, the sphere of the pact now expands to Europe.

The countries in the bloc have a combined population of about 580 million, representing a total GDP of around $14.7 trillion --- about 15 percent of the world's overall figure.

The U.K. will now have tariffs abolished on its exports of whiskey and other products to Malaysia, with which it has had no free trade agreements.

As to Japan, a separate bilateral trade pact --- the Economic Partnership Agreement, or EPA --- is already in effect with the U.K.
With the U.K. in the CPTPP, tariffs on Japan's exports of rice and rice flour to the U.K. will immediately be scrapped as well as those on tires for construction vehicles.

US President-elect Donald Trump will assume office next month with a pledge to impose tariffs on imports from all countries.
Japan is due to face the challenge of realizing growth by making use of free trade frameworks including the CPTPP.