The EU and Japan have agreed a trade deal.
The agreement in principle on Economic Partnership Agreement is described as “the most important bilateral trade agreement ever concluded by the EU” and includes a specific commitment to the Paris climate agreement.
It scraps most duties paid by EU firms of around 1bn euros a year, and opens the Japanese market to key EU agricultural exports.
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council president Donald Tusk, and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe announced the conclusion of the agreement during the EU-Japan Summit.
It ends duties on many cheeses such as Gouda and Cheddar, currently at 29.8%, as well as on wine exports, currently at 15% on average. It allows the EU to increase its beef exports to Japan substantially, while on pork there will be duty-free trade in processed meat and almost duty-free trade for fresh meat.
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