Talks begin on new Japan trade deal
Hopes to expand current arrangement
ECONOMY: Talks on a postBrexit free trade deal between the UK and Japan will start today, the Department for International Trade has said. The negotiations will expand on the current EU-Japan arrangement.
TALKS ON a post-Brexit free trade deal between the UK and Japan will start today, the Department for International Trade has said.
Ministers say the negotiations will expand on the current EUJapan arrangement and secure extra benefits in areas such as digital trade. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and the Japanese minister for foreign affairs, Motegi Toshimitsu, are launching talks by video call.
Leeds-educated Ms Truss said: “As we kick-start trade talks, we aim to strike a comprehensive free trade agreement that goes further than the deal previously agreed with the EU, setting ambitious standards in areas such as digital trade and services.
“A trade deal with Japan will also advance the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will improve market access for UK businesses across the Asia-Pacific region.”
Takaaki Hanaoka, secretary general of the Japanese chamber of commerce and industry in the UK, said: “The UK and Japan have common ground in that both have mature markets and societies.
“Both can be partners in further developing economic activities through mutual trade and investment.”
The talks will see around 100 negotiators from the UK side take part in the talks by video conferencing.
UK trade with Japan was worth more than £30 billion last year, with 9,500 companies exporting
goods to the Asian country, according to Government figures.
Ms Truss said the two countries were committed to an “ambitious timeline” to ensure a deal will come into force at the end of the year when the UK is scheduled to end its post-Brexit transition arrangements with the EU.
Government analysis suggests a free trade agreement between
The UK and Japan both have mature markets and societies.
Takaaki Hanaoka, secretary general of the Japanese chamber of commerce and industry
the UK and Japan would bring greatest benefits to Scotland, London and the East Midlands.
On Sunday, a French former Europe minister said Britain must be “more realistic” in postBrexit trade deal talks as negotiations with Brussels stalled.
MEP Nathalie Loiseau said it was “possible” that the UK and EU would reach a deal but that “much progress has to be made in the negotiation”.
The latest round of negotiations, which ended on Friday, failed to break the deadlock – but talks are set to continue.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said there had been “no significant areas of progress” while his UK counterpart, David Frost, said they would have to “intensify and accelerate” the process if there was to be any chance of an agreement.
As it stands, Britain will leave the EU single market when the current Brexit transition period comes to an end at the end of the year with nothing to replace it unless a deal is agreed.
Ms Loiseau told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “For the time being, the UK negotiator is asking, for instance, for freedom of movement for service providers coming from the UK – we have never provided it to any of our trade partners. He is asking for reciprocity in terms of professional qualifications. This is something that we provide only to member states. So the UK side has to become more realistic.”
A major sticking point remains the so-called level playing field, which is aimed at preventing the UK from undercutting EU standards on issues including workers’ rights, environmental protection and state subsidies.