UK, Canada Unveil Interim Trade Agreement
22 November 2020 - 02:49AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA -- The U.K. and Canada said the countries had agreed on
an interim pact to cover trade once Britain is no longer part of a
European Union-Canada trade treaty, beginning Jan. 1.
The two countries said on Saturday officials would work on a
more comprehensive agreement, with talks to begin within a year of
the interim pact's ratification by the respective legislatures. The
interim trade pact extends tariff-free access for most goods, as
available under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or
CETA, which was formally signed in late 2016.
"The deal we have negotiated secures certainty for British and
Canadian businesses, safeguarding tens of thousands of jobs,"
Elizabeth Truss, the U.K. secretary of state for international
trade, said in a statement delivered by videoconference at a
Canadian government news conference.
Mary Ng, Canada's trade minister, said a new U.K.-Canada deal
would build upon the CETA and focus on other items such as the
environment, women and the small-business sector.
The U.K. is Canada's most important commercial partner in
Europe, with two-way trade in merchandise goods reaching 29.04
billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of $22.22 billion, in
2019.
After Jan. 1, the U.K. will no longer be part of the EU's single
market and therefore no longer committed to the bloc's free
movement of goods, services, capital and labor. The two sides are
in negotiations about their future relationship, to cover among
other topics involving trade and security.
The U.K. also started talks in May with the U.S. about a trade
pact.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 21, 2020 10:34 ET (15:34 GMT)
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