Britain told it has only 6 weeks to work out trade deal with Japan

Four years to the day from the referendum where the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, Tokyo has given London just six weeks to agree terms for a post-Brexit trade deal between the countries.

Having taken the country out of the EU at the end of January, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly insisted there will be no extension requested to the post-Brexit transition period that lasts up until the end of the year, meaning the UK is under great pressure to come up with alternative trade agreements not only with the EU, but also other countries, over the coming months.

Hiroshi Matsuura, the Japanese government’s chief negotiator, told the Financial Times that the tightness of the deadline meant both sides might have to “limit their ambitions”, suggesting some of London’s desired goals might be unrealistic.

“To avoid a gap in January, we must pass this in the autumn session of the Diet,” he said, referring to the Japanese parliament. “That means we must complete negotiations by the end of July. The shortage of time means that both sides will have to limit their ambitions.”

Official figures show that 9,500 British companies exported goods worth $37 billion to Japan last year.

Sticking point

The comments about ambitions needing to be limited could be bad news for British agricultural export hopes. Agriculture was always a sticking point in negotiations between the EU and Japan, and British Trade Secretary Liz Truss had hoped any new deal could produce fresh opportunities for the farming sector.

A spokesman for the British Department for International Trade said: “We will be fighting for British farmers’ access to the Japanese market as part of a deal along with ambitious digital and data chapters.” Matsuura has not commented on what any trade deal may contain.

Around 100 British negotiators are involved in daily video conference calls with their counterparts from Japan. “We are doing this deal differently to the usual style. Instead of rounds of talks, we are negotiating every single day,” Matsuura said.

If a deal were to be agreed, it would be the first independent one Britain had clinched in more than 40 years, and one of the fastest in history. But should Britain end up with a bad deal, it would pile even more pressure as regards negotiations with the EU and also the United States over other deals.

A much talked-about deal with the US has long been one of the mainstays of Brexit, but the prospect of British agricultural standards and the National Health Service both being potential bargaining chips has already provoked fury in the UK.

As long ago as 2016, just after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, the man who is now the US secretary for commerce, Wilbur Ross, was quoted as calling Brexit a “God-given opportunity” to take trade from the UK.