Stay up-to-date on

Trade Regulation Updates

That affect you

Minister Ng announces Canada is ratifying the Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement

March 19, 2021

Canada and the United Kingdom share a profound and positive relationship – one that is built on shared history and values, and strong economic and people-to-people ties.

Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, during a call with Elizabeth Truss, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for International Trade, announced that Canada is ratifying the Canada-United Kingdom (U.K.) Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA). This announcement follows the Royal Assent of Bill C-18: An Act to implement the Agreement on Trade Continuity between Canada and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the House of Commons.

The Canada-U.K. TCA will provide Canadian exporters and businesses with continued preferential access to the U.K. market and 98% of Canadian products will continue to be exported to the UK tariff-free. The agreement provides much-needed predictability and stability and will support workers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. Canada and the U.K. are taking all necessary steps required to implement this agreement for April 1, 2021.

As the Canada-U.K. TCA is meant to be an interim measure, Canada and the U.K. look forward to engaging in future negotiations on a new, high-standard, and ambitious free trade agreement that will best reflect the bilateral relationship and trade priorities.

In advance of this, Canada launched public consultations on March 12 to hear directly from Canadians on their priorities for the next phase of the Canada-U.K. trade relationship. These consultations will help define Canada’s priorities in future negotiations with the U.K., in the context of both a new, bilateral free trade agreement and the U.K. potentially joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

 

For more information, and to see the full announcement, please visit Global Affairs Canada.