It still needs to be ratified, but the United Kingdom has formally agreed to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Canada is a full member of the free trade bloc along with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

With a combined GDP in 2022 of US$14.6 trillion (including the UK), the CPTPP is one of the world's largest free trade zones.

The UK will be the first European country to join the CPTPP and the first new member since its formation in 2018.

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to be home to about half the world’s middle-class consumers by 2035.

In 2022, Alberta exported $8.7 billion worth of goods to CPTPP countries representing about 4% of our total merchandise exports. If we exclude the US, exports into the CPTPP zone accounted for 40% of Alberta’s exports in 2022.

Free trade agreements are not panaceas (ongoing barriers to Canadian beef and pork exports to the UK are a case in point), but as a major exporter, Alberta’s economy benefits from Canada’s participation in agreements that reduce barriers to the international flow of goods and services.

Alberta consumers also benefit from free trade agreements to the degree to which they reduce the costs of imported goods and services.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Just under $775 million was spent on new residential construction in Alberta in May 2023 (the most recent month for which data are available).

Today’s trivia question: What is the combined GDP in current US dollars as of 2022 for the three members of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)?