Japan and the United Kingdom formally signed a trade agreement Friday, the first major trade deal since Britain’s exit from the European Union. The U.K. is still engaged in difficult trade negotiations with its closest trading partner, the European Union. According to British International Trade Minister Liz Truss in Tokyo after the signing of the agreement, “How fitting it is to welcome the dawn of a new era of free trade in Japan, where the sun rises.”
According to Reuters, the U.K. and Japan formally signed a trade agreement, the first major deal since the withdrawal from the European Union. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo after the agreement was signed, UK International Trade Minister Liz Truss said, “This is the first new free trade agreement to be reached after the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.” “How fitting it is to welcome the dawn of a new era of free trade here in Japan, where the sun rises,” British International Trade Minister Liz Truss told reporters in Tokyo after the agreement was signed.
It follows a broad agreement reached in September between Truss and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Mogi. Toshimitsu Maki noted that the agreement was reached after four and a half months of negotiations, saying, “This proves that Japan and the UK are determined to continue to actively promote free trade.
The U.K. said the agreement means that 99 percent of its exports to Japan will be tariff-free, and in the long term, the country’s trade with Japan could increase by 15.2 billion pounds ($19.9 billion) over 2018. According to the report, the agreement provides for a phased reduction of UK tariffs on Japanese cars to zero by 2026. This is the same as the Japan-EU trade agreement.
According to Reuters; Toshimitsugu Shigeru said after the agreement was signed that he and Truss had agreed to cooperate so that the agreement would take effect on January 1, 2021. He also said that Japan welcomes the UK’s interest in joining the 11-nation Comprehensive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and is willing to provide the necessary support. Japan is already a member of the CPTPP, which also includes Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
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