After four years of talks, Tokyo is to open up to agricultural goods, and Brussels to Japanese cars. The trade deal, presented to Brussels this week “in principle,” will scrap 99 percent of tariffs that have impeded exports by Japan’s carmakers to the EU and EU farmers will benefit from access to the Japanese market (dairy is the one area where certain tariffs will still apply). There will be several years of a transition period for certain areas of the deal, including some car parts, but full duty-free is anticipated for all agricultural products eventually. Please use the sharing tools found via the email icon at the top of articles. “As long as China and the US are off the table, this is basically the biggest FTA that Europe can pursue,” said the director of the European Centre for International Political Economy. A full story can be found on Financial Times.
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