Garment manufacturers hope to gain from new UK-Japan deal
The UK Fashion and Textiles Association has said it supports changes that will come into force in textile and apparel companies’ trade with Japan as a result of a new “comprehensive economic partnership agreement” (CEPA) between the two countries.
Japan and the UK signed the agreement in October 2020. It is now subject to domestic legal requirements and other approval procedures, but both have said they want it to come into force “as swiftly as possible”.
Specific to textiles, the UK Fashion and Textiles Association has said the rules for UK exporters to Japan will be “more flexible” than those they faced while being part of the European Union (EU). The UK voted to leave the EU in a referendum in 2016 and the transition period for its departure ends on December 31.
Under EU rules, apparel manufacturers were obliged to carry out a number of processes in the UK to export finished garments to Japan under the EU’s free trade agreement with the Asian country. Under CEPA, these garment producers need only carry out one part of the process in the UK.
“A clothing producer could sew together imported fabrics into a coat, and then export the final product to Japan under tariff preference,” the association said, “as long as 50% of the inputs are sourced domestically.”
