The 12-nation trade pact is attracting prospective members eager to preserve the current global multilateral trading regime.
The Philippines has reportedly applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade pact along with the United Arab Emirates, as a hedge against growing international trade uncertainties.
Citing unnamed Japanese officials, Nikkei Asia reported yesterday that the two nations had submitted their application documents to the government of New Zealand in August. New Zealand functions as the “depositary” of the CPTPP and is responsible “for various tasks including receiving and circulating specified notifications and requests made under the Agreement.”
The Philippine and UAE applications are the first to take place since September 2024, when Indonesia applied to join the trade area.
The CPTPP is the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was led by the United States under President Barack Obama as part of his administration’s Asian “rebalance,” before his successor Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in 2017. The pact currently comprises 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
The U.K. is the first and only nation to join the pact since the U.S. withdrawal, becoming a member in December 2024. However, according to Nikkei Asia, Costa Rica is in accession talks, while eight other nations, including Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines, and the UAE, “have filed applications and are awaiting negotiations.” The CPTPP is among the world’s largest free trade blocs, representing a combined population of more than 500 million and a gross domestic product of around $13.5 trillion.
The next CPTPP ministerial meeting is due to be held in Australia before the end of the year, and could see a decision on this backlog of membership applications. All 12 current members must agree before a nation can begin accession talks, which involve a rigorous review of a nation’s tariff and trade policies its record of complying with international trade commitments. The decision to admit a new country, then, also requires the consensus of all members.
The obvious context for Manila’s membership bid is the fracturing of the established international trading order, under the impact of growing U.S.-China competition and Washington’s sharp turn to protectionism since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry announced in May that it was hoping to apply to join the pact, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff announcement, when the Philippines was slapped with a 17 percent import tariff. This ended up being increased to 19 percent in the final bilateral trade agreement reached between the Trump and Marcos administrations in July.
In a statement in September, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), one of the country’s premier business lobby groups, described CPTPP membership as “critical for securing the nation’s economic future at a time of increasing global trade fragmentation and protective measures from traditional partners.”
It said that the membership would give the Philippines “preferential access to critical markets where it currently lacks bilateral trade agreements, notably Canada, Mexico, Peru, and the United Kingdom.”
According to the Japanese government officials cited by Nikkei, South Korea is also considering applying for CPTPP membership.
