EU and Japan sign landmark free trade agreement

The EU and Japan have signed a free trade agreement in Tokyo. Initially, the agreement was to be signed last week in Brussels, but the EU-Japan summit was postponed due to the recent floods that hit Japan. Thanks to the agreement, EU businesses can save up to a billion dollars in duties paid by the EU to Japan each year. It will also remove a number of long-term regulatory barriers, for example in the automotive sector. The opening of the Japanese market, which has 127 million consumers, is expected to increase EU export opportunities.