Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau pledges super-charged trade deal with Britain the day after Brexit
He said agreements are always ‘challenging’ but was bullish about signing one with the UK saying ‘it should be fairly easy for all of us to get to an improved approach’
CANADA’S leader wants talks on a super-charged trade deal with Britain the day after Brexit.
Justin Trudeau is keen to begin negotiations on an even better agreement than the one the UK enjoys through the EU.
In a boost for Theresa May, the young PM said: “Trade deals are always challenging but it should be fairly easy for all of us to get to an improved approach on trade between Canada and the UK.”
His comments were hailed yesterday by Brexit Secretary David Davis as a sign of the opportunities that lay ahead for the country.
Britain benefits from free trade on 98 per cent of goods under the Ceta deal Canada has with the EU.
We are one of the biggest business partners of the world’s tenth largest economy, trading an estimated £15billion of goods a year.
But Mr Trudeau, 46, speaking before next week’s Commonwealth heads of government meeting in London, said Britain could fix an even better deal than Ceta after Brexit next year.
He said: “There will be things in Ceta that are no longer as necessary between Canada and the UK and there’d be other areas where we would be interested in going further.”
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He said it was just “the first step” in a wider deal, saying: “After that, we very much look forward to negotiating an even better or larger or more impactful deal to encourage the deepening of trade ties between Canada and the UK.”
And Mr Trudeau brushed off concern he would push for big concessions in the talks, saying: “Canada is firmly of the opinion that the best trade deals are the win-win trade deals.”
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