Belgium is quietly emerging as one of the big winners from the EU-Canada trade pact, even as Ottawa reels from an escalating trade war with Washington.
According to fresh EU figures, Belgian trade with Canada surged by 51 per cent between 2016 and 2024, reaching over 8.2 billion euros. Since the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) entered into provisional application, Belgian goods exports to Canada jumped 85 per cent, while services exports climbed 43 per cent .
Pharmaceuticals, confectionery and medical technology have led the charge. Sales of Belgian chocolate to Canada more than doubled to 95 million euros, while exports of pacemakers soared by 154 per cent. Pharmaceutical shipments rose 65 per cent to 117 million euros, and sugar confectionery exports also doubled .
Bilateral investment has expanded, too. Canadian investments in Belgium swung from a net outflow of 2.4 billion euros in 2016 to a positive 2.5 billion euros in 2023, while Belgian investments in Canada nearly grew to 3.9 billion euros.
“It is sad that our largest trading partner forced us into reassessing how we’re going to build the economy of the future”
The figures arrive just as Finance minister François-Philippe Champagne warned that Canada must “reinvent” its economy after the United States “turned its back” by launching a damaging tariff war. “It is sad that our largest trading partner forced us into reassessing how we’re going to build the economy of the future”, he said in Ottawa this week.
While US tariffs batter sectors from bourbon to car manufacturing, CETA appears to be cushioning the blow by giving Canadian firms and their EU counterparts new markets. Ottawa is already eyeing fresh sectoral deals with Brussels, as Canada, the U.S. and Mexico prepare for a high-stakes review of their trilateral pact in 2026.
Belgian chocolate exports to Canada boomed under CETA © BELGA PHOTO KURT DESPLENTER