Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Britain calls off trade talks with Canada

- PAN PYLAS

LONDON — The British government has called off post-Brexit trade talks with Canada after discussion­s broke down over disagreeme­nts related to the import and export of beef and cheese.

The two countries have been negotiatin­g a new trade deal over the past two years since Britain fully left the European Union. Trade between the two has largely continued under the same deal that was originally brokered when Britain was a member of the bloc.

In a statement late Thursday, the U.K. government said it “remains open” to restarting talks in the future but that there was no progress so far. Annual trade between the two countries is valued at about $33 billion.

Over time as the discussion­s pushed ahead, Canadian negotiator­s came under mounting pressure from their beef industry and domestic cheesemake­rs.

The beef industry wanted access to the United Kingdom for its hormone-fed beef while the cheesemake­rs warned about the economic impact of tariff-free cheese from Britain, primarily cheddar. Tariff-free cheese exports from Britain stopped at the end of 2023 after a time-limited side agreement expired, leaving British producers facing higher duties of 245%.

Canada’s trade minister, Mary Ng, said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Canadian government “will never agree to a deal that isn’t good for our workers, farmers and businesses.”

Minette Batters, president of the Nation Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, praised the British government, especially its apparent refusal to allow hormonelin­ked beef to be allowed into Britain.

“Trade on agricultur­al products is always the first thing to be discussed and the last thing to be agreed,” she said. “I am pleased the government has stuck to its line and not given way,”

One of the main benefits that was being pushed during Britain’s 2016 referendum on its membership of the EU was that it would allow the country to pursue its independen­t trade policy.

However, few new trade deals have been negotiated since Brexit, and any ensuing benefits are widely considered to be modest when put against the impediment­s to trade that have now been put in place between Britain and the EU. Before Brexit, Britain could trade freely within the bloc.

Britain’s Conservati­ve government, which negotiated the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, sought to downplay the breakdown in the talks with Canada.

“It is a benefit of our independen­t trading status that we are able to insist on the detail of each and every deal to ensure that it works, specifical­ly in the U.K. interests,” said Camilla Marshall, a spokeswoma­n for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“We are open to restarting talks with Canada in the future where we can build a trading relationsh­ip that benefits businesses and consumers on both sides,” she added. “There is no schedule for those.”

With the talks breakdown, there are renewed worries British cars could see higher tariffs from April on exports, when another temporary tariff-free agreement — similar to the one involving cheese — is due to expire.

The British Chambers of Commerce said the breakdown in the talks was “unwelcome news” and urged the government to help sectors affected.

“For our dairy exporters and parts of our manufactur­ing industry the loss of key trade preference­s puts them in a worse position than before 2020,” said William Bain, the chamber’s trade policy chief.

Britain’s main opposition Labour Party, which is far ahead of the Conservati­ves in polls ahead of a general election sometime this year, said the collapse of the talks was another “significan­t failure” by the government to deliver on its post-Brexit promises.

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