An Analysis of Export Effects Resulting from Economic Partnership Agreements Based on Trade Statistics: The case of the Japan-EU EPA

This paper examines the export effects of the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) using import trade statistics data that track EPA utilizing imports between Japan and the EU. Until now, since export trade statistics did not capture whether an EPA was utilized for transactions, assessments of export effects relied largely on interviews with exporting companies.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of export values, export volumes, export prices, EPA utilization rates, and EPA-related tax savings, based on the import trade statistics of partner countries. Regarding export effects, the EU has expanded exports across a wide range of industries—such as food products, chemicals, leather goods, and precious metals—by making utilizing the EPA extensively. Conversely, while Japan’s EPA utilization rate has risen, usage is concentrated in automotive-related products, with limited export effects observed for other product categories.

Contributing factors include the existence of products where the price gap between Japanese goods and those from other countries is large enough that tariff reductions under the EPA have failed to improve competitiveness. In addition, the administrative costs associated with managing rules of origin and other EPA requirements appear to have hindered EPA utilization by many small and medium-sized enterprises.

It is hoped that an increasing number of countries will publish import trade statistics that specifically track EPA utilization in the future.