The UK has today secured a free trade agreement with Japan, which is the UK’s first major trade deal as an independent trading nation

“This is good news for UK fashion and textiles brands, and companies specialising in outerwear and knitwear in particular,” said Paul Alger MBE, Director of International Business at UKFT. “Many well-known fashion and textile brands and smaller UK SMEs are heavily dependent on exports to Japan.

“Japan is the UK fashion and textile industry’s third largest export market after the EU and the USA,” he added. “For many of them, especially those manufacturing in the UK, Japan is their number one export market and the first market to buy their products because the Japanese have a unique appreciation of products manufactured in Europe and particularly in the UK.”

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