Trade talks with Canada have collapsed in a ferocious row over cheese and beef.
The UK halted long-running discussions with Ottawa on a post-Brexit pact in a fury over tariffs on British stilton, cheddar and different cheese imports which got here in earlier this month. The different key sticking level is Canada’s demand for the UK to ditch its ban on hormone-treated beef. It is the primary time the UK Government has pulled out of talks because the UK formally left the EU.
Both nations have been buying and selling for 2 years beneath phrases agreed earlier than the UK left the EU, which permits the UK to promote vehicles and cheese to Canada with out import taxes. But the Canadian authorities has been beneath stress from home beef and cheese producers to set more durable phrases.
Trade between Canada and the UK was price £19.2 billion in 2020, in accordance with the UK Government. Imports from Canada are price £7.3 billion and UK exports to Canada price £11.8 billion.
A UK Government supply mentioned Canada appeared to have “lost sight of the bigger picture – the British and Canadian businesses who do £26 billion worth of trade a year and the people they employ”. The supply added: “If Canada come back to table with a serious offer and desire to make progress we’re all ears, but in the meantime we’re going to focus on other trade deals that deliver for UK businesses.”
A spokeswoman for Canada’s commerce minister, Mary Ng, informed the BBC she was “disappointed” that talks have collapsed and had made this clear to her UK counterpart, Kemi Badenoch. The spokeswoman added: “Their decision to continue to maintain market access barriers for our agriculture industry and unwillingness to reach a mutual agreement has only stalled negotiations.”
Ms Ng tweeted 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, mentioned it was important that hormone-treated beef was not allowed into the UK. She informed BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is a relief for farmers… Trade on agricultural products is always the first thing to be discussed and the last thing to be agreed. I am pleased the Government has stuck to its line and not given way.”
She added: “Canada has played hardball for a long time. It was always going to come to a crunch point as to who was going to capitulate.”
A UK Government spokesperson mentioned: “We have always said we will only negotiate trade deals that deliver for the British people. And we reserve the right to pause negotiations with any country if progress is not being made. We remain open to restarting talks with Canada in the future to build a stronger trading relationship that benefits businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.”