This is the UK's first major trade deal since the UK's withdrawal from the EU, formalized in January 2020. The UK government announced on September 11 that it had concluded a "major" trade deal with Japan , an act that lays the foundations for a "commercially independent nation".
"The UK has entered into a free trade agreement with Japan, which is the country's first major trade deal" as a "commercially independent nation," the Department for International Trade said in a statement.
The text, which is to increase trade with Japan by around £ 15.2 billion, is the subject of an "agreement in principle" from the British Minister for International Trade, Elizabeth Truss, and the head of Japanese diplomacy, Toshimitsu Motegi.
Escaping customs duties
The deal will allow UK companies to evade tariffs on 99% of their exports to Japan.
It will notably benefit industry, the agrifood and technological sectors, the ministry said in its press release.
Leaving the European Union on January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom aims to sign new trade agreements before the end of the year, in particular with the United States.
Also with European countries, but negotiations are slipping.
In the absence of an agreement, the more disadvantageous rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), with high tariffs, will apply.
With AFP
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