[ad_1]
The Department of International Trade has been accused of “exaggerations and falsehoods” after being involved in a dispute over the price of soy sauce, sparked by an episode of the Great British Bake Off.
During the latest episode of the TV cooking show, contestants competed in “Japanese Week” and were tasked with producing steamed buns, as well as weekly “technical” and “amazing” challenges.
While the show aired on Channel 4, the Department of International Trade took the opportunity to greet the post-signing recently signed by the UK.Brexi business deal with Japan.
International Trade Secretary Liz Truss recently agreed on the trade agreement with Japan. Photo: Andrew Parsons / 10 Downing Street
A post on the department’s Twitter account stated Japan’s trade agreement signed by international trade secretary Liz Truss last week would make soy sauce “get cheaper” in the UK.
However, trade experts were quick to point out that there are no longer any tariffs on soy sauce entering the UK from Japan, suggesting that the product is unlikely to be cheaper under the new deal.
David Henig, director of the UK’s European Center for International Political Economy, told the department that “it doesn’t look good when a government social media account cannot be trusted to tell the truth.”
Until the end of the Brexit transition period later this year, the UK will continue to benefit from the EU trade deal with Japan, at which point the newly signed UK-Japan deal will apply.
However, the Department for International Trade doubled down on its claim, tweeting that under the terms of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the UK would have negotiated with Japan starting next year if no deal had been signed. post-Brexit, the tariff on soy sauce is 6%.
The department later added: “To clarify: thanks to the trade agreement between the UK and Japan, soy sauce will be cheaper than it would be otherwise under the terms of the WTO, where we would be negotiating with Japan at from 1 January if we had not secured the UK -Trade agreement with Japan. “
In the continuing absence of a post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU, the Prime Minister Boris johnson He recently claimed that the UK “will prosper enormously” if forced to trade on WTO terms with the bloc, which it has often described as an “Australia-style” relationship.
Emily Thornberry, Labor shadow secretary for international trade, said the Department of International Trade’s claims about soy sauce and the Japan deal were “just one illustration” of a “much bigger problem.”
He posted on Twitter: “For four years, the DIT has been too promising and failed to deliver on our trade agreements well, and then it has constantly tried to fill the void with hype and false truths.”
[ad_2]
