Facts

On signing the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Truss declared that "today is a landmark moment for Britain. It shows what we can do as an independent trading nation" She later added, "At its heart, this deal is about creating opportunity and prosperity for all parts of our United Kingdom and driving the economic growth we need to overcome the challenges of coronavirus."

Two years later, the deal was  branded a failure after new figures show exports have fallen since it came into force. Figures collated by the Department for International Trade show exports to Japan fell from £12.3bn to £11.9bn in the year to June 2022. Exports in goods fell 4.9% to £6.1bn and services fell 2% to £5.8bn.

A comparative analysis of UK-Japan trade figures for 2020 and 2021 by Morita-Jaeger and a colleague states: “In all cases but one, Japanese exports and imports of goods and services with the UK performed worse than the equivalent flows with the EU or the rest of the world.”

Verdict

Deranged from Liz Truss. She later became Prime Minister!

We emailed Liz Truss’ office offering her the chance to respond. The email was received, but no reply.