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Nic Cobb

What is a 'Canada-style' trade deal?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said when it comes to trade with the EU after Brexit: "We want a comprehensive free trade agreement, similar to Canada's".

The EU's agreement with Canada is called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or Ceta for short.


The EU began negotiating with Canada in 2009, and Ceta provisionally came into force in 2017, although it has not yet been signed off by all the EU member states.

What does Ceta do?


We've heard a lot about wanting a "zero-tariff, zero-quota" deal between the UK and the EU. Ceta does not do that.


Ceta gets rid of most, but not all, tariffs (that's taxes on imports) on goods traded between the EU and Canada. Tariffs remain on poultry, meat and eggs.


It also increases quotas (that's the amount of a product that can be exported without extra charges) but does not get rid of them altogether. For example, quotas on EU cheese exports to Canada increase from 18,500 tonnes to 31,972 tonnes a year.


It does little for the trade in services and in particular almost nothing for the trade in financial services, which is very important for the UK economy.


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