Mon, Jun 26, 2017 page14

• Abe to push for UK trade talks

  TWO HORSES: The Japanese prime minister emphasized that his first goal would be to reach a trade agreement with the EU at the next G20 summit in Germany

  • AFP, TOKYO
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  Japan wants to hold informal free-trade talks with Britain as it also works to sign a deal with the EU, a report said yesterday.

  Tokyo’s moves aim to minimize Brexit’s impact on Japanese companies as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU, the Japanese business daily Nikkei Shimbun reported.

  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he wants to reach a basic free-trade agreement with the EU next month.

  More than 1,000 Japanese companies operate in Britain, employing about 140,000 people in the country, while Japan’s direct investment in the UK has topped ￥10 trillion (US$89.56 billion) to date.

  Japanese officials have already warned businesses with European headquarters based in Britain that they might have to relocate to continental Europe after a final deal is signed between London and the EU.

  Japan’s major automakers have so far backed the British economy, with Toyota Motor Corp announcing a ￡240 million (US$307 million) investment in a car assembly plant, while Nissan Motor Co gave the green light to new investments at its plant in Northeast England.

  The announcements raised questions about what assurances they had been offered by the British government.

  Japan is planning to start informal talks with Britain while it remains in the EU, but will wait until the UK has left the bloc before launching formal bilateral negotiations, the Nikkei report said, without citing sources.

  “As [the UK] is not allowed to launch formal negotiations with a third country under the EU rules, the Japanese and British governments will prepare [informal] talks behind the scenes,” it said.

  Japan does not currently have a trade deal with the EU, but is locked in long-running negotiations with the bloc. On Saturday, Abe said he is aiming to reach a Japan-EU free-trade deal during his visit to Germany to attend a G20 summit.

  “I hope to hold a summit meeting with the EU and reach a basic agreement there,” he said in a televised speech in western Japan’s Kobe. “The Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement will be a model for 21st-century economic order.”

  Abe added that he hoped the EU deal would provide the same stability promised by the enormous Trans-Pacific Partnership pact. US President Donald Trump has pulled out of the TPP, effectively putting the deal on hold.

  Meanwhile, Britain is turning to the world’s poorest countries to shore up trade as Brexit puts existing deals on an uncertain footing.

  The government promises improved access to UK markets for the world’s poorest countries and to maintain existing duty-free access for “everything but arms” for 48 countries including Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Haiti, according to an e-mailed statement from the British Prime Minister’s Office.

  Britain will also seek to expand relationships with nations including Jamaica, Pakistan and Ghana.

  British Trade Secretary Liam Fox has been in discussions with countries including the US and India to lay the groundwork for new deals, since the government is barred from completing talks while still part of the EU.

  “Our departure from the EU is an opportunity to step up to our commitments to the rest of the world, not step away from them,” Fox said. The announcement “shows our commitment to helping developing countries grow their economies and reduce poverty through trade.”

  The UK currently imports around ￡20 billion a year from developing nations, including Bangladesh and Sierra Leone, the government said.

  Almost 80 percent of the country’s tea comes from the “least developed” nations and slightly less than a quarter of all coffee imports.

  Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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