FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN JAPAN AND EU CONTRIBUTING TO THE LIBERALIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION

Abstract

1. World Trade is developing despite America First

Liberalization of the world economy in foreign trade means the removal of national restrictions that preclude free trade between states. In particular, it deals with the removal of barriers to the provision of goods, services, capital and persons ("four freedoms"), so that the framework conditions of international transactions correspond to those of national transactions. Since the Second World War, these efforts have been reinforced by bi-lateral and multilateral agreements (for example the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)) to liberalize world trade and thereby exploit the globalization of economic relations that is technically possible through communication and mobility advance.

After years of negotiations,Japanand the European Union (EU) agreed on the Japan-European-Free-Trade-Area (JEFTA) free trade agreement in these weeks (autumn 2017). They are particularly important in the context of US President Donald Trump's protectionist remarks under the slogan "America First", because they make it clear that efforts to develop international economic relations through free world trade are far from over are (NTV, 2017).