US, Japan sign trade agreements on agriculture and digital export

The US and Japan have signed trade agreements on agriculture and digital exports, which American President Donald Trump termed a "tremendous victory" and said will help create jobs, expand investment, promote fairness and reduce the trade deficit between the two countries. The two agreements signed at the White House were the new US-Japan Trade Agreement and the US-Japan Digital Trade Agreement.

"These two deals represent a tremendous victory for both of our nations. They will create countless jobs, expand investment and commerce, reduce our trade deficit very substantially, promote fairness and reciprocity, and unlock the vast opportunities for growth," Trump told reporters on Monday during the signing ceremony at the White House. In the United States, these deals are a game-changer for its farmers and ranchers providing them with significantly enhanced access to a critical foreign market, he said.

Trump said the signing of the agreements will benefit both the countries. According to the White House, the agreements will provide a tremendous boost to American farmers, workers and businesses.

It said Trump will continue to work towards achieving a final comprehensive trade agreement with Japan. Describing this as a tremendous victory for American farmers, as they will have expanded access to a fairer market to export their products, the White House said Japan is US' third-largest agricultural export market and accounted for USD 14.1 billion in food and agricultural exports in 2018.

"Japan will eliminate or reduce tariffs on approximately USD 7.2 billion in United States agricultural exports. Japan will eliminate or significantly lower tariffs on American beef, pork, poultry, wheat, cheese, wine, ethanol, and more," the White House said. "Once this agreement is implemented, over 90 percent of United States agricultural imports into Japan will be duty-free or receive preferential tariff access," it said.

The United States-Japan Digital Trade Agreement includes high-standard provisions that address key digital trade issues. "The agreement meets the same gold standard on digital trade rules that was set by the President's landmark United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)," the White House said.

"This agreement will boost the already approximately USD 40 billion worth of digital trade between the United States and Japan. This agreement will benefit trade in innovative products and services where the United States is a worldwide leader and will ensure that American businesses have a level playing field in areas like video, music, e-books, and software," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)