Britain signed its first major post-Brexit free trade agreement with Japan on Friday, in what the government hailed as a “historic moment”. The UK–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was signed by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and Japan’s Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu in Tokyo. “How fitting it is to be in the Land of the Rising Sun to welcome in the dawn of a new era of free trade,” Truss told reporters at the signing ceremony. “Today is a landmark moment for Britain,” she said in a statement. “It shows what we can do as an independent trading nation, as we secure modern and bespoke provisions in areas like tech and services that are critical to the future of our country and the reshaping of our economy.” Under the deal, which was agreed in principle last month, UK businesses will benefit from tariff-free trade on 99 percent of exports to Japan, the government said in a …