Jan 26, 2024

The Business Council of Canada is calling for trade talks with the U.K. to resume after London suspended negotiations Thursday.

Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, said in a Friday statement that businesses in the U.K. and Canada have a mutual interest in the two countries resuming trade talks. 

“Businesses on both sides of the Atlantic need certainty, reliability and predictability,” Hyder said. 

When free trade talks initially began in March 2022, Hyder noted that his non-profit business leaders group highlighted the importance of improving relations with “reliable partners and longstanding allies such as the U.K. amid increasing global volatility and a shifting geopolitical environment.” 

“This is even more true today,” he said. 

The U.K. decided to pause negotiations just a few weeks before the next round of talks were expected to take place, with the possibility of a permanent trade deal. 

Mark Warner, an international trade and competition Lawyer at MAAW Law, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Friday that the pause in negotiations did not surprise him as starts and stops are common in Canadian trade negotiations. 

“I think largely the holdup is Canada doesn't really want to give up very much in terms of market access on cheese and the British are saying, ‘well, what do you want us to do?’” he said. 

Last month a special quota for U.K. cheese imports expired, which provided the same low-tariff access to Canadian markets that the European Union has. The measure had been introduced temporarily after Brexit.

Country-of-origin rules are also expected to expire at the end of March, which Canada decided not to extend. The move will likely result in increased prices of U.K. goods, including luxury cars. 

According to the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), rules of origin are laws and regulations that identify where an imported product comes from. BDC said the rules differ between countries and are often related to free trade agreements. 

Trade Minister Mary Ng’s office said the move is the result of U.K. officials not offering something in return. 

With files from the Canadian Press