UK, Japan Launch Trade Negotiations

The United Kingdom and Japan officially opened trade negotiations June 9, the U.K. said in a notice. The U.K. said a free trade agreement with Japan would be an “important milestone towards the UK’s accession” to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Both countries “believe that the right response to the unprecedented economic challenge posed by coronavirus [COVID-19] is to make international trade easier and fairer,” U.K. Secretary of State-International Trade Liz Truss said in a statement.

The deal should be “ambitious and balanced,” Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama said during a June 9 news conference, according to an unofficial translation of a transcript. The agreement also should focus on lowering tariffs on exports of Japanese auto parts to the U.K., the minister said.