ABSTRACT
Brussels and Tokyo announced the conclusion of the negotiations for an EU–Japan economic partnership agreement (EPA) in late 2017. Pressure within Japan to negotiate an agreement intensified after 2010. South Korea’s bold approach to free trade agreements with the EU and USA combined with the 2008–2009 economic downturn and the 3/11 triple disaster pushed powerful business interests to negotiate an agreement with the EU including the removal of difficult non-tariff measures. This chapter examines how the agreement crystallized, placing it in the context of anti-trade, anti-globalization stances in the UK (Brexit) and the US under the Trump administration.
