The European Union aims to cooperate closely with Japan on trade and security in an era of increasing uncertainties and challenges arising from multiple geopolitical fronts.
European Council President António Costa and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at a bilateral summit in Tokyo. Von der Leyen is going to meet with Chinese leaders later this week in a highly anticipated summit that should set to restart trade talks between Brussels and Beijing. Japan recently signed a new trade deal with the US after threats of increased tariffs, while the EU is still negotiating with the Trump Administration to avoid a 30% tariff on exports to the US.
Von der Leyen called Japan a “trusted” partner and wants closer collaborations, with increased bilateral trade that can grow further by building upon the existing partnership agreement between the bloc and the Asian country. The EU and Japan have initiated a new competitiveness alliance with this aim in mind. She mentioned that “we will also work more closely together to counter economic coercion and to address unfair trade practices.”
Japan had recently become the first non-European country to sign a Security and Defence Partnership with the EU. As part of this new deal, the two partners “agreed to cooperate to launch a defence industry dialogue to strengthen the defence industrial base, which is a priority for both sides, and to begin official negotiations on a Japan-EU information security agreement,” according to Ishiba, who spoke at the end of the summit.
The Japanese prime minister also reinforced the will of both the EU and Japan to work on maintaining and strengthening a rules-based, free economic order. Von der Leyen made similar comments to reporters after the summit, saying, “We believe in global competitiveness and it should benefit everyone.”
