Disagreements about food safety standards and tariffs on meat and cheese have stalled free trade discussions between Canada and the United Kingdom. Following two years of discussions on a post-Brexit trade agreement, the talks collapsed at the end of January due to disagreements over hormone-treated cattle and a 245% import duty on British cheese. Canada has been pressuring the UK to change its position on hormone-treated beef, which resulted in farmers being barred from the British market. This has resulted in harsher trading conditions with Canada than before it was part of the EU’s trade agreement with the nation. The failure in negotiations implies that British carmakers may face higher levies.
The UK agricultural sector has applauded the decision to withdraw from the discussions, which came after highly criticized agreements with Australia and New Zealand. Minette Batters, head of the National Farmers Union (NFU), argued that Canada was asking too much and delivering too little in terms of goods like cattle and cheese, hindering both nations from progressing. The UK government has made it plain that decreasing the country’s strong food safety standards is not an option in any conversations.
Last year, the UK exported £198.1 million worth of food to Canada, with cheese ranking among the top two goods. Canada authorized tariff-free British cheese imports under a temporary roll-over agreement reached when post-Brexit trade regulations went into effect, but it ended at the end of December. As of this year, UK cheese was shifted from the EU quota to a lower quota, subject to exorbitant import tariffs.
