Japan and Mexico have signed a bilateral free-trade agreement. The deal, set to take effect in April, is expected to put Japanese industries on equal footing with their US and European counterparts serving Mexico, saving Japan up to 400 billion yen a year and increasing its penetration into the Mexican market. The agreement was strongly opposed by Japanese farmers, who will now have to compete with low-priced Mexican agricultural products. Over the next decade, Mexico will phase out tariffs on all types of Japanese steel products and create duty-free import quotas for Japanese automobiles. The Japan Times has more. For background information on Japan-Mexico relations and the FTA negotiations, see Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website here.

UPDATE: The agreement is now online here [PDF], with the associated implementation agreement here [PDF], from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.