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Britain's Secretary of State for International Trade Truss with Japan's Foreign Secretary Motegi
Photo:
Kimimasa Mayama / AP
While negotiations on the complete separation from the European Union are stalling, the British government has already reached an agreement with its trading partner Japan.
Both countries have signed a bilateral free trade agreement that will apply after the transition phase.
Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and the British Minister for International Trade, Liz Truss, signed an agreement in Tokyo.
In doing so, they paved the way for the agreement to come into force on January 1st.
With the agreement, both states want to ensure continuity in trade and investment.
The agreement, which largely corresponds to Japan's existing free trade agreement with the EU, must first be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.
Tariffs on Japanese cars are to be abolished by 2026
Japan, the third largest economy in the world before Germany, had negotiated such an agreement with Great Britain, since the free trade agreement between Japan and the EU did not cover the United Kingdom after the end of the Brexit transition phase on December 31.
The bilateral agreement provides for tariffs on Japanese cars to be gradually reduced to zero by 2026 - this is also what the existing trade agreement between Japan and the EU provides.
Japanese tariffs on British agricultural products will also remain at the same level as laid down in the trade agreement between Japan and the EU.
Japan's foreign minister appeals: Preserve supply chains in Europe
Japanese companies welcome the agreement, but they are concerned whether London will really get an agreement with the EU after the end of the transition phase.
London had decided to continue the Brexit talks just this week.
From the EU perspective, there are only a good two weeks left because a treaty would then have to be ratified.
Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi also said Japan had high hopes that an agreement could still be reached in the negotiations between London and Brussels on a Brexit trade agreement.
"It is of the utmost importance that the supply chains between the UK and the European Union continue to exist after the UK leaves the European Union."
The deal with Japan is the first deal that London has made with a major economy after the end of the Brexit transition period.
London has further trade talks with the US, Australia and New Zealand.
The trade agreement between Japan and the EU entered into force in 2019.
The British voters had voted in 2016 with a narrow majority to leave the EU.
Great Britain then left the EU at the end of January 2020, but is still a member of the EU internal market and the customs union during a transition period until the end of the year.
With a Brexit trade agreement, a hard break with tariffs and trade barriers should be avoided.
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apr / dpa
