The collapse of trade talks with Canada in the agricultural sector after two years of negotiations shows that London is struggling to deliver on its promises of thriving trade for the United Kingdom after it leaves the European Union.
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“We have always said that we will only negotiate agreements that are in the interests of the British people,” said a spokesman for the Prime Minister, commenting on the “pause” in the talks announced on Thursday evening.
The opposition Labor Party, which has a big lead in the polls ahead of the next general election, denounced “another significant failure by the Conservatives to keep their promises.”
However, Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King's College London, says the “direct” impact on Britain's trade balance is “marginal” as Canada is only the UK's 13th export market. United Kingdom.
But the deadlock in Canada-British negotiations “shows how difficult it is to reach agreements even with friendly countries” and “the limits of the government's post-Brexit trade strategy,” he added in an interview with AFP.
Former Downing Street presenter Boris Johnson called for leaving the EU, promising the UK would have greater economic potential by going it alone and touting his concept of a “global Britain”.
Since its effective withdrawal from the European Union (EU) and the European internal market on January 1, 2021, the United Kingdom has had trade agreements in particular with the EU and other European countries, but also with more distant countries such as Australia, New Zealand or Singapore – without succeed in establishing the hoped-for connection with the United States.
In 2021, an interim agreement was reached between Canada and the United Kingdom, retaining much of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
But access to Canada for British cheeses under this agreement expired at the end of December and some of these products are now subject to tariffs of 245%, “making them uncompetitive in the Canadian market,” argue the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
“Rise of protectionism”
Rules of origin and procedures provisions will also expire in March, impacting British car exporters who will face tariffs of around 10% when exporting their vehicles to Canada, the BCC said.
However, William Bain, political director of the BCC, argues that the breakdown of negotiations between London and Ottawa is part of “increasing protectionism around the world and that exporters are suffering the consequences”.
He particularly mentions the unsuccessful trade talks between the EU and Australia.
For its part, the British Farmers' Federation (NFU) believed that the British government had done well to break off negotiations with Ottawa.
“Canada has asked for too much and offered too little,” complains Minette Batters, president of Britain’s largest agricultural union, who particularly regrets that Ottawa “has repeatedly tried to force the United Kingdom to change its food safety regulations.”
For David Henig of the European Center for International Economic Policy, the UK has chosen to protect its food and veterinary standards after the anger of British farmers over the free trade agreement with Australia.
British farmers were concerned about competition from Australian products such as beef and lamb, which were cheaper with more industrial farming and looser health standards.
However, the NFU and BCC welcomed the conclusion of an agreement in March to join the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Partnership (CPTPP), seeing it as the possibility of “new export opportunities”.
Mr. Bain hopes that the failure of negotiations between London and Canada will not prevent the latter from ratifying the United Kingdom's accession to the CPTPP, but recalls that the “priority for our members” remains “to strengthen trade relations with ” to improve our most important partner, the European Union.
In particular, the BCC promotes the idea of a “veterinary agreement” that would remove trade barriers and controls that would urgently come into force on fresh products such as meat, or a “VAT reform that would make exchanges more fluid”.