Tariffs on agricultural products to be reduced under UK-Japan Trade deal

Tariffs on exports of a number of agricultural products will be reduced under a new Free Trade Agreement announced with Japan today. The UK’s first major trade deal as an independent trading nation will increase trade with Japan by an estimated £15.2 billion, the Government said. The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was agreed in principle by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and Japan’s Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu on a video call this morning. The EU already has an FTA with Japan and the Government said the deal was ‘tailored to the UK economy and secures additional benefits beyond the EU-Japan trade deal, giving UK companies exporting to Japan a competitive advantage in a number of areas’. “It will help to create jobs and drive economic growth throughout the whole of the UK,” the Government said. Among the specific elements announced are ‘strong tariff reductions for UK pork and beef exports’. The Government said: “We have negotiated a deal ...