Business, Freight News

Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement Update

[ February 23, 2017   //   Gary G Burrows ]

On February 15, 2017, the European Union (EU) parliament voted in favor of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada.
CETA is designed to unite the markets of 35 million Canadians with 500 million Europeans.
Ratification by the EU parliament now paves the way for CETA to take effect on a provisional basis, meaning that over 90% of it could be put into practice within the next month, while the rest must be ratified by individual EU member countries.
Once CETA is in effect, it will make it easier to export goods and services between the EU and Canada. CETA aims to eliminate approximately 98 percent of tariffs, including many industrial goods and agricultural food items. It also promises to open up competition in the service sector, including banking and insurance.
In 2015, Canada was the EU’s twelfth most important trading partner, accounting for 1.8% of the EU’s total external trade. The EU was Canada’s second most important trading partner after the U.S., with approximately 9.5% of Canada’s total external trade in goods.

Tags: Canada, European Union