Jefta Trade Agreement

Relations between the European Union (EU) and Japan date back to 1959. They maintain close trade relations, particularly in terms of investment flows. [1] [2] But the debate on JEFTA is worrying. One way or another, Trump`s trade weaknesses and illogical trade war lead some progressives to believe that if President Trump is against free trade, then free trade agreements must somehow be good. It is in a way what is liberal, progressive and democratic that is at stake. To have open societies and welcome immigration policy, we must also have open markets without regulation and without public intervention. And that trade agreements will get us there in one way or another. In 2018, the EU recorded a surplus of €13 billion in services trade with Japan. The Japanese side has repeatedly stated that it has every interest in concluding the talks expeditiously; notably because the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPP) project. For the EU and for Germany, however, the central issue is that it has been possible to agree on a free trade agreement that is ambitious overall and meets standards as high as those agreed with Canada under CETA. The conclusion of the negotiations resulted in a modern agreement between the EU and Japan, which provides for markets that are more open to European businesses and sets high standards to protect the interests of consumers, the environment and workers. The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement was adopted on 17 September. Officially signed in July 2018, making it the largest bilateral free trade agreement in the world, creating an open trade zone covering nearly a third of global GDP.

[7] [8] In 2018, French imports reached a value of €10.1 billion, a quarter of which represented the automotive industry alone. This is followed by computer and electronic equipment as well as machinery with 20% each and chemicals with 11%. The structure of French imports is very similar to that of Europe in general, but this is not the case for exports. These reached a value of €6.6 billion in 2018. Pharmaceuticals took the first place with a score of 18%. However, France outperformed the rest of the EU, particularly in agriculture and food (including beverages and especially wine) and luxury goods (perfumes and cosmetics, as well as textiles, clothing and leather). This situation has been reinforced by the implementation of JEFTA, especially in sectors such as wine, as shown by the statistics of the first 5 months after the agreement, as highlighted in the article above. France has also benefited from Airbus` presence in the aviation sector. On the other hand, France lags behind in terms of exports from the automotive sector (6% against 17% for the rest of Europe) and exports of computers and electronics (10% against 16%). On 17 July 2018, the Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement was signed, one of the most important trade agreements ever concluded by the EU.

Doing business and investing in Japan can be difficult for European companies[14], and there have been some trade disputes between the two sides. However, the slowdown in the Japanese economy has encouraged them to become more open to EU businesses and investment. [2] In efforts to reduce barriers to trade, the emphasis is on opening up investment flows. [1] The evolution of trade in goods since 2000 has been marked by a significant reduction in the EU27`s trade deficit with Japan, with its share of total EU imports having decreased considerably from 9.3% in 2000 to 3.6% in 2012. Details can be found in the table below:[10] If you plan to expand your business to Japan, this agreement is a real opportunity for you, as it implies an increase in trade between the two continents and therefore the need to have European cultural skills in Japan and Europe with a knowledge of Japanese. Of course, when considering emigrating to Japan, think about your visas to Japan and compare the basics of international health insurance abroad. He argues that President Trump`s deal is not to be protectionist, but to use protectionism as a hammer to force countries to open markets to American companies. That way, he`s not that different from Obama. He says much of Trump`s opposition to the TPP and free trade is demagoguery.

In the past, European companies faced trade barriers when exporting to Japan, which sometimes made it difficult for them to compete. Perhaps in the end, protectionists and free traders are both on the same side: on the corporate side. He continues: “But the TPP was not popular in the United States. The traditional skepticism of the American population about free trade was successfully mobilized for the first time during the election campaign. Trump, in particular, used this mobilization, which also forced Hilary Clinton to distance herself from the TPP. The reason for this is probably that in the past, presidents have always been able to claim greater trade liberalization as the leadership of the United States – the United States as the leader of the free world. Trade liberalization was also part of the leadership. The EU-Japan EPA agreement is an admirable example of free trade in the current wave of trade protectionism. Of course, long-term sustainable growth will only come with continued implementation on both sides.

However, we must take into account the progress made in the trade negotiations between the US and Japan, which means that the EU agri-food sector could face fierce competition from US agricultural products in the future. On investment protection, the German government supports the EU`s efforts to create a modern ceta-based system. This would include carefully defining investment protection standards, respecting the regulatory rights of governments and establishing a transparent investment court. .