Yahoo Finance Brexit: Japan 'doesn't get it' but is 'too polite' to say so in public
Japan has major doubts about Brexit but is “far too polite” to say so publicly, a former UK ambassador says.
Sir David Warren believes the prospect of prime minister Theresa May making real progress on possible trade deals during her three-day trip to Japan is a long way off.
Talking to Bloomberg Radio, Sir David said: “I don’t see it as a simple matter, taking one text and translating it into a bilateral agreement.
“I think it would be a little more complicated than that.”
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Sir David, who was the UK’s ambassador in Tokyo for four years from 2008, said May’s hosts had grave doubts about Brexit.
“The Japanese simply don’t understand why we’re doing this. They’re far too polite to say so publicly,” he added.
May, who was greeted on arrival by Japan’s premier, Shinzo Abe, remained in confident mood.
She said: “When we leave the European Union, there’s obviously a number of trade deals that the EU has with other countries and we are looking the possibility of those being able to be brought over into trade deals with the United Kingdom.
“What Japanese businesses and other businesses have asked us to look at is this issue of the certainty going forward of not having a cliff edge.”
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Speaking ahead of May’s visit, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japanese deputy chief cabinet secretary said Tokyo had to react to “a sense of crisis among businesses” over Brexit, and gather information about the British negotiating strategy.
Japanese businesses employ about 140,000 people in the UK, including a number of major banks, as well as carmakers such as Nissan, Toyota and Honda.
Nomura and Daiwa banks have already signalled their concerns about the impact of Brexit by signalling to move many operations to Frankfurt once the UK leaves the EU in early 2019.
And, the Tory government has been accused of offering a “sweetheart deal” to Nissan to boost production at its plant in Sunderland in the wake of the referendum result last summer.
No.10 has denied any deal was offered specifically to Nissan but has acknowledged May had given assurances to the wider industry that it would be protected from the impact of Brexit.
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While Britain is at liberty to hold trade talks with any nation, it cannot sign off any bilateral deals until it has left the EU.
It is understood Abe will be seeking assurances from Theresa May about what kind of relationship the UK will have with the EU post-Brexit.
He will also be keen to be reassured that any future relationship will not be detrimental to Japanese businesses in the UK. May and Abe are due to speak publicly on Thursday following one-to-one talks.
May told BBC News: “Japan is a longstanding partner of the UK with significant investments in the UK. We have seen Softbank, Toyota investing in the UK since the EU referendum took place.”
“These are important developments for our economy and relationship with Japan.”
However, Labour’s Barry Gardiner said: “Whilst Theresa May is desperately trying to spin this visit as scoping out a future bilateral trade and investment agreement, the reality is that the Government is spooked by the fact that Japanese banks like Nomura have already announced their intention to relocate their European HQ to Frankfurt.”
