China News Service, October 23. According to foreign media reports, on the 23rd local time, Britain and Japan formally signed a free trade agreement.
It is said that the agreement became the first major trade agreement signed by the UK after Brexit.
British Secretary of Trade Liz Truss said after the signing ceremony in Tokyo, "This is the first new free trade agreement reached since Britain once again became an independent trading nation."
On May 7, 2017, local time, Dover, UK, street artist Banksy created a painting in which a worker is wiping a star from the EU 12-star flag, which means that the UK will leave the EU.
According to reports, the UK and Japan have begun negotiations on a future trade agreement since June 2020.
In September, the UK announced a free trade agreement with Japan.
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said that since the beginning of the negotiations, Japan and the United Kingdom signed an agreement in only four and a half months, "this reflects the determination of Japan and the United Kingdom to continue to vigorously promote free trade."
Toshimitsu Motegi said that he has agreed to cooperate with Terras to make the agreement effective on January 1, 2021.
After the agreement comes into effect, 99% of Japanese goods exported to the UK will be exempted from tariffs; Japanese cars exported to the UK will be reduced in stages.
The UK has already withdrawn from the European Union on January 31, 2020, and is currently in a transitional period for Brexit.
After Brexit, the UK has been working hard to establish a new UK-Japan trade agreement based on the 2019 EU-Japan Agreement.