Canada, Britain ink a new post-Brexit trade deal
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Nov 23, 2020
Today's agreement to rollover provisions of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) gives certainty for United Kingdom businesses exporting goods and services to Canada worth £11.4 billion.
An estimated 42 million pounds (about 55.8 million dollars) tariff on British exports has been saved, the statement said, adding that rollover provisions will support the country's automotive manufacturing, and food and drink industries.
Johnson's government says the ability to strike free trade agreements with countries around the world is one of the main benefits of leaving the EU.
Johnson tweeted his enthusiasm for the "fantastic trade agreement" that keeps the Canadian market open for the UK.
The trade element of the new UK-Ukraine Agreement envisages preferential treatment on a range of goods and services.
The deal with Canada locks in existing trading rules that cover 20 billion pounds ($27 billion) of trade between the two countries, or about 1.5 percent of the UK's total trade in goods and services a year ago.
The Canada deal would be the second major trade deal announced by Britain in less than a month, after it agreed to terms with Japan in October. That is less than 12 percent of those 1.4 billion pounds (roughly $1.6 trillion) of commerce Britain recorded annually.
"But I'd agree with what the prime minister has said, in the short term specifically and most immediately, it would be preferable to have a deal because it would ease things in the short term".
"We call on the Canadian and British government to publish details of the agreement so that businesses can understand all the practical details", said Mark Agnew, the global policy director for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
This is a good result for the United Kingdom wine and spirit industry.
This agreement doesn't just confirm the continued removal of tariffs, but gives us some extra footing and mechanisms to engage with the Canadians on their complex alcohol market, which is controlled at a provincial level. So it's really encouraging to see new trade deals secured with trading partners like Canada, long since seen as a crucial market by small firms.
"The trade relationship and the historic relationship between Canada and the UK is just so deep that being able to make sure we're seamlessly transitioning through with this, what are we calling it, that's right, the Canada-UK trade continuity agreement, which is flawless to make sure that our businesses and yours continue to work well together".
"In the future, we believe there is an opportunity to enhance our bilateral trade and investment ties even further with a comprehensive and ambitious free trade deal", Hyder said.