The UK has agreed a ‘rollover trade deal’ with Canada preserving £20 billion of trade in goods and services. 

Prime minister Boris Johnson and international trade secretary Liz Truss agreed an ‘agreement in principle’ via video call with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and trade minister Mary Ng on Saturday (21 November).

Tariff savings

The UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement will ensure that the UK continues to trade using the same terms as the EU-Canada deal when the transition period ends on 1 January 2021, according to the Guardian.  

The government estimates that over £42m in potential tariffs have been saved for UK exporters by the deal, which protects significant trade in the automotive, food, agriculture, fishing and drinks sectors.

The agreement will be subject to final legal checks before being formally introduced into UK and Canadian law.

Bespoke deal still to be worked on

According to the FT, the UK hopes to expand its post-transition trade with Canada through a bespoke free trade agreement which is to be negotiated in the coming months and years. 

For now, industry groups welcomed the news of the continuity agreement and called for the government to conclude similar rollover deals with other countries.

There are 14 outstanding continuity agreements still to be finalised worth a total of £60bn to UK trade, including deals with Mexico, Ghana and Singapore.

British Chambers of Commerce director general, Adam Marshall, said the deals were urgently needed to avoid “a damaging cliff edge for both importers and exporters”.