The EU-Japan Trade Agreement Sends A Signal To Trump

The EU-Japan trade deal will create an open trade zone covering over 600 million peopleJapanese PM Shinzo Abe announced the deal with top EU officials Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk

In the middle of all the trade battles of the US against the rest of the world, the European Union has considered a new strategy of collaboration with other regions and have signed with Japan its largest trade agreement ever. The deal will create an open trade zone covering over 600 million people.

Baker McKenzie partner Ross Denton said the deal signed Tuesday sends “a very strong signal to the US Administration that the EU and Japan, two major trade partners of the US, both see the benefits of removing barriers and reducing, not increasing tariffs.” 

“Both sides have granted concessions to the other (eg Japan on agriculture, and EU on cars), and come up with a balanced outcome that will give world trade a significant boost at a time of marked uncertainty,” he said.

Mr Denton added: “There will of course be strong pressure on the UK to replicate the EU’s agreement with Japan as part of its own web of new bilateral trade agreements.”

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.