UK and Canada sign rollover trade deal

Britain is set to sign a £20bn post-Brexit trade deal with Canada that will roll over terms from an existing agreement with the EU.

International trade secretary Liz Truss said the tie-up, which was agreed last month and will be sealed on Wednesday, will be a springboard for a wider trade alliance and a tailor-made deal with Canada. The deal will roll over terms from an agreement between Canada and the EU.

Ms Truss said the agreement “paves the way for a more advanced deal that goes further and faster in modern areas like digital and data, women’s economic empowerment and the environment”.

“The deal also takes us a step closer to joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a high standards agreement of 11 dynamic Pacific nations. 

“Membership would deepen market access for our businesses, help turn us into a global hub for tech and services trade, and strengthen the global consensus for rules-based free trade.” 

The World Bank estimates that about 1.5pc of UK exports go to Canada, the eighth-largest export market, and the deal will remove 97pc of tariffs.

UK goods and services exports to the North American country are worth around £20bn annually and the Government estimates that £42bn is saved from higher tariffs if an agreement had not reached. News of the deal's signing was first reported by the Sun.

Ms Truss called it a “brilliant deal for Global Britain”, adding it “provides certainty for car and food and drink exporters in particular”.

Talks on a new bespoke deal will begin next year but Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau warned last month that agreeing a comprehensive tie-up could take years.

It is the second major post-Brexit agreement after a landmark tie-up signed with Japan in October but a crucial deal with the EU is still missing.

Rollover deals have been sealed with countries including Norway and South Korea, but business leaders have urged the UK to agree more to stop firms facing a trade cliff-edge on January 1.

A dinner between Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday is regarded as a crucial moment for the talks as the sides struggle to make a breakthrough.

Fishing rights and establishing a level playing field of common rules and standards remain the two key issues causing the impasse.

Reference: The Telegraph: Tom Rees  09/12/2020