The British government has been ridiculed after claiming that a UK-Japan trade deal will make soy sauce cheaper.
During Tuesday night’s broadcast of The Great British Bake Off in which contestants were celebrating Japanese Week, the trade department took the opportunity to promote the government’s post-Brexit deal with Japan.
“The bakers used a lot of soya sauce in the first challenge on #GBBO, so it’s a good thing it will be made cheaper thanks to our trade deal with Japan 🇯🇵” the tweet claimed.
However, Twitter users were quick to point out that the UK already has a 0% tariff with Japan due to a free trade agreement between Tokyo and the EU.
“Current tariff on soy sauce entering the UK from Japan – 0%. Tariff on soy sauce entering UK after UK-Japan trade deal – 0%. Not a good look when you can’t trust a government social media account to tell the truth,” wrote trade expert David Henig.
Other tweeters pointed out that the UK imports more of its soy sauce from Europe rather than Japan. Popular soy sauce brand Kikkoman is manufactured in the Netherlands, which obviously has free trade with the UK.
Post-Brexit, the tariff with Netherlands will raise to 6% if no trade deal is secured between the UK and Europe.
Welsh MP Anna McMorrin added that other popular soy sauce brands are made in Wales.
In a failed attempt to amend its initial tweet, Department of International Trade even highlighted how tariffs with Europe will increase but not with Japan.
“Under WTO terms, the tariff on soya [sic] sauce is 6%. Under our deal, they will be 0%,” the department tweeted.
“Currently the UK global tariff on soya sauce is 6%, therefore if we had not secured a UK-Japan trade deal, soya sauce would cost consumers more come the 1 January 2021,” a spokesman said.
In related news, The Great British Bake Off was accused of racism after contestants cooked Chinese treats for ‘Japanese Week’.
The bakers used a lot of soya sauce in the first challenge on #GBBO, so it’s a good thing it will be made cheaper thanks to our trade deal with Japan 🇯🇵
— Department for International Trade (@tradegovuk) October 27, 2020
The most popular soya sauce brand in the UK is manufactured in the Netherlands with ingredients not from Japan… pic.twitter.com/V4gDFP4e25
— Dean Hochlaf (@Dhochlaf) October 27, 2020
Current tariff on soy sauce entering the UK from Japan – 0%. Tariff on soy sauce entering UK after UK-Japan trade deal – 0%.
Not a good look when you can’t trust a government social media account to tell the truth. https://t.co/IVH5Qg8LtV
— David Henig (@DavidHenigUK) October 27, 2020
To clarify: thanks to the UK-Japan trade deal, soya sauce will be cheaper than it otherwise would be under WTO terms, on which we would be trading with Japan from 1 Jan if we had not secured the UK-Japan trade deal. https://t.co/zxRV0Pg0V0
— Department for International Trade (@tradegovuk) October 28, 2020
