Britain Moves Closer To Canada In Trade

With renewal of trade agreement with Canada, Britain has signed its second major partnership agreement in less than a month

This is going to be a long-lasting friendship-Trudeau and Johnson renew trade agreement 
Photo courtsey: The Star (Canada)

Boris Johnson has a strategy in place; and nothing is going to change his mind about his course of action. His latest movement is towards Canada. He is moving ahead to replace trade partner EU with the maple leaf country. 

Canada has been so far, Britain's 12th biggest trade partner. With the trade agreement poised to be signed soon, Canada's position might just become stronger. Will this lead to Canada joining hands with Britain over its need for acquiring surplus Covid-19 vaccine, is something the political analysts feel is a possibility. 

But Boris Johnson isn't going to extend a very long helping hand, unless it means strengthening Britain's position as a newly exited sovereignty from the European Union. The accord agreement has not come through. Johnson has his own reasons for not bowing down to the EU terms. 

Without the accord agreement, Britain will find it tough to do trade with Canada. Post January 01,2021, both countries are going to face tariffs on trade. Britain has not come on a level playing ground with EU over the Brexit and subsequent trade related agreements. By January, the transition period ends. 

Also, U.K. loses out on its Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada that was put in place in 2017 in order to cut out on tariffs,  making export of goods and services easier. Since then, both countries had done a total trade  worth about 17 billion pounds ($23 billion) in 2019.

With a new agreement, Johnson is thinking quick on his feet; and therefore Liz Truss, the U.K. trade secretary, has reasons to believe that this continuity deal will help Britain start a new chapter into forging deeper trade relationship with Canada in future. 

This move also benefits Britain through its interest in the Trans- Pacific Partnership, something which has been a brave move and moved away from the British conservativism to stick to its chosen few around its vicinity. Canada is active in the pacific nation locks and Britain has a two-pronged strategy at play, where it will show keen interest in Canada's capabilities in data management and digital technology. 

With the renewal of trade partnership with Canada, the UK has signed its second major trade accord- all in less than a month. Earlier on in October, it agreed to terms with Japan. There is confirmed news of ongoing trade negotiations with countries including Australia, New Zealand and the U.S all ready. 

Britain is going all out to prove its seriousness as a standalone nation, away from the shadows of the EU, under which, it felt it had stayed for too long. However, Britain continues to heavily depend on exports and will need to find a more humane perspective to handhold EU friends, who depend on it for its various sales of products. The post pandemic recovery asks for such a consideration world over.