The United Kingdom and Canada have locked in their existing trading relationship, worth £20 billion, and agreed to begin negotiating a new more ambitious trade deal as early as next year.
In a November 21 video call, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau settled on an ‘agreement in principle’ to roll over current European Union-Canada trading arrangements.
Overall, an estimated £42 million tariff burden on UK exports has been saved. The benefits locked in under the agreement reached today include tariff-free trade on 98 per cent of goods that can be exported to Canada.
The deal secured today provides the foundation for both countries to negotiate a new trade deal that will improve on the existing EU-Canada agreement and will be tailored for the British economy with the potential to go further in new areas like digital trade, women’s economic empowerment and the environment.
