Japan will request for an early elimination of automobile and auto parts tariffs in negotiations on a post-Brexit trade agreement with Britain.
Britain is currently embarking on negotiating free trade deals with countries around the world including Japan.
“In the negotiations, we hope to urge Britain to bring forward the period for which tariffs will be removed mainly for autos and auto parts … as well as adopt high-level rules on digital trade,” trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama told a news conference on Tuesday.
Japan was Britain’s fourth-biggest non-EU trading partner in 2019, with trade between the two countries totalling 31.4 billion pounds ($39.91 billion), according to government statistics.
Britain hopes ultimately to join the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and views trade talks with Japan as a step toward that end.
On Tuesday Japan and Britain agreed to start talks on a trade deal.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi welcomed interest expressed by British Trade Minister Liz Truss to join the Trans-Pacific free trade pact.
“Both ministers agreed to start negotiations to build a new economic partnership and work towards an early agreement to secure business continuity for both countries,” a foreign ministry statement said on Tuesday.
In separate talks, EU and British negotiators said on Friday they had made very little progress about a post-Brexit trade agreement, with just weeks left to extend a year-end deadline to reach a deal.
