EU, Japan nearing agreement on trade deal

European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said she is confident that a trade agreement between the EU and Japan will be reached at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.    The European Union appears to be closing in on a new free trade agreement with Japan.
   EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström was in Tokyo this past Friday and Saturday with Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan, holding talks with Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Fumio Kishida and Agriculture Minister Yuji Yamamoto about concluding negotiations on a trade deal between the EU and Japan.
   After the meeting, Malmström tweeted, “Hard work in Tokyo, but a lot of progress,” adding at a press meeting, “We have sufficient convergence so that our officials can discuss in the coming days to iron out the remaining details. I’m quite confident that our leaders can agree on a package at the EU-Japan summit (in Brussels) on July 6 and give their blessing.”
   Today, Malmström and Kishida met in Brussels to iron out the remaining details before tomorrow’s summit.
   Malmström said on twitter today a political agreement has been reached at a ministerial level on the trade deal and the remaining differences were ironed out.
   According to the European Commission, talks of a trade deal between the EU and Japan sparked in 2013 when EU governments instructed the European Commission to start negotiations with Japan.
   The EU wants a trade agreement with Japan to remove trade barriers and send a message that both economies do not support protectionism, the commission said.
   Each year, the value of tariffs paid by EU exporters to Japan stands at 1 billion euros. Japanese customs taxes on beef total close to 40 percent, up to 40 percent on cheese, up to 30 percent on chocolate and 15 percent on wine. Japan also has long and costly procedures to approve each variety of fruit, the European Commission explained.
   Japan is the EU’s sixth most important trading partner worldwide and second biggest trading partner in Asia after China.
   Each year, EU firms export over 58 billion euros in goods and 28 billion euros in services to Japan. Nearly 74,000 EU companies export to Japan, 78 percent of which are smaller firms, according to data from the European Commission.
   Considered an ambitious trade deal, the EU-Japan agreement would generate more jobs across the EU, and could provide opportunities for the EU in particular sectors like pharmaceuticals, medical devices, agri-food, motor vehicles and transport equipment, according to the commission.
   Such a deal would also open up Japan’s services market to EU firms, allowing them to bid for more public contracts in Japan.
   “It is important for us to wave the flag of free trade in response to global moves toward protectionism by quickly concluding the free trade agreement with Europe,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told ministers at a meeting on Tuesday about the EU negotiations, according to a report from Reuters. “We will negotiate with all our energy until the very end to achieve the best deal for Japan,” he added.
   The G20 Summit, where members will discuss financial and economic issues, will continue in Hamburg this Friday and Saturday. The G20 comprises 19 countries – including the United States – and the EU.