The huge EU-Japan trade deal

Sir, – As the Brexit divisions are laid bare in the House of Commons, with the Conservative Party split apart, there was more than a little irony that the EU and Japan signed a huge trade deal this week that cuts or eliminates tariffs on nearly all goods.

The agreement covers 600 million people and almost a third of the global economy.

It will remove tariffs on European exports such as cheese and wine, and Japanese automakers and electronics firms will face fewer barriers in the European Union.

While the UK prepares to leave the EU, the world’s second largest economy, representing 500 million people, we will also have to re-negotiate around the 80 trade agreements either in place or partly in place which we currently enjoy through being members of the EU.

This includes the agreement with Japan, which if we want to protect thousands of jobs at car companies like Nissan and Honda, the UK will have to replicate. If not, we could clearly see investment flowing to those countries in the single market.

The UK exiting the EU means not only removing ourselves from the largest single market in the world, with the economic benefits this brings, but we will also have to begin the lengthy negotiations to strike bilateral trade agreements with those very same countries the EU already has links with and which we currently benefit from.

Alex Orr.

Flat 2, 77 Leamington Tce, Edinburgh.