Japan Concludes FTA Deals With Vietnam And Switzerland
Japanese officials have confirmed this week that after a year of negotiations,
they have struck two separate bilateral Free Trade Agreement deals with Switzerland
and Vietnam.
Under the agreements, around 92% of the goods traded between Japan and Vietnam
and 99% of goods traded between Japan and Switzerland will become tariff-free by 2018. Negotiations with the two countries were initiated by Japan in the first half
of 2007, with Japanese officials looking to get rid of the import tax Vietnam
and Switzerland had imposed upon high-technology and industrial goods. In return, Vietnam was looking for a free market on clothing, seafood and farming
products, and Switzerland wanted Japan to cut the tax on imports of certain
foods and beverages. The Japan-Switzerland deal will be extremely important for Japan, as this
will be its first bilateral deal with a European country. It is hoped that this
FTA may also encompass aspects of intellectual property and e-commerce, but
details have yet to be finalized. Japan already has FTAs in place with Chile and Mexico, along with a host
of Asian countries, and is aiming to begin similar negotiations with Australia,
India and South Korea in the months ahead. .
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