German Chancellor Angela Merkel has met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to toast a new free trade deal between Japan and the EU. The pair were also expected to address nuclear arms control.
The German chancellor’s fifth visit to Japan began on Monday, three days after a free trade pact came into effect between the country and the European Union.
At a time of increasing friction over global trade, with US tariffs still in place on steel and aluminumand Brexit on the horizon, Merkel’s visit was touted in Germany as a chance for two major world powers to stand up for open trade in defiance of Donald Trump.
“Germany and Japan are, in these politically troubled times, close and well-acquainted partners,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said ahead of the trip. “As two great democracies we also stand for a set of shared values.”
On a tight schedule, Merkel held talks with Abe at his official residence on Monday.
Merkel and Abe had been set to discuss international trade and Japan’s priorities for its upcoming presidency of the G20 group of economic powers. They were also expected to address the US and Russia’s suspension of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
Both leaders struck a similar tone when they addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, with the Japanese leader vowing that his country would push to rebuild trust in the global trade system.
As major exporters, being the world’s third and fourth largest economies respectively, Japan and Germany are keen to preserve free trade on a wider basis.
Merkel is also keen to defend multilateralism, at a time when major world powers, such as the US and Russia appear increasingly focused on acting unilaterally. The chancellor used her Davos speech to tout “win-win” outcomes in international relations.
Fears of new nuclear showdown
Russia on Saturday suspended the Cold War-era INF Treaty after the US suspended it and threatened to fully withdraw within six months unless alleged Russian violations of the deal’s terms cease. The development has prompted fears of a new nuclear arms race akin to those of the Cold War.
Although both Japan and Germany would have the capability to produce nuclear weapons, both have refrained from producing them after the Second World War. However, Germany participates in NATO nuclear weapons sharing and Japan enjoys protection under the US nuclear umbrella.
Big hitters on trade scene
Traveling alongside Merkel on the trip is a delegation representing multiple sectors of the German business community, including electronics, artificial intelligence pharmaceuticals and financial services.
Japan is one of Germany’s key trading partners, with trade between the two countries totaling some 42.5 billion euros (48.8 billion dollars). The amount is up from 37.2 billion in 2015, with Japan now Germany’s second largest trading partner in the region.
Japan is Germany’s fifth biggest trading partner outside the EU in terms of combined exports and imports. However, that also equates to less business being done between Germany and Japan than between Germany and Hungary.
The amount of trade is expected to increase after the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan — creating what signatories dubbed the “world’s largest” free trade area — came into force on February 1.
On Tuesday, the chancellor is set to meet 85-year-old Emperor Akihito, who in May is due to abdicate in favor of his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, on health grounds.
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