Canada has agreed to ratify Britain\u2019s accession to a major trans-Pacific trade pact as Sir Keir Starmer and Mark Carney sought to revive talks on a stalled bilateral deal.<\/p>\n
Ottawa will seek to introduce legislation to its parliament this autumn to approve Britain\u2019s entry to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).<\/p>\n
The UK joined the bloc in 2024, but Canada is yet to formally endorse its membership \u2013 meaning British exports to the country are not covered by the reduction in tariffs outlined in the pact.<\/p>\n
Following a bilateral meeting between the Prime Minister and his Canadian counterpart in Ottawa\u2019s Parliament Hill on Sunday, Downing Street said the move would bring \u201chuge benefits\u201d to UK businesses.<\/p>\n
The two leaders will also look to work through sticking points in a rollover British-Canadian trade deal after negotiations were suspended under the previous Tory government amid disputes over beef and cheese.<\/p>\n
Number 10 said a \u201cjoint taskforce\u201d would be set up to \u201cturbocharge progress on other areas of mutual benefit, including technology and artificial intelligence \u2013 in support of shared growth and our national security\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe taskforce will also look to make progress on the wider UK-Canada Free Trade Agreement,\u201d Downing Street said.<\/p>\n
Mr Carney\u2019s office said they had also agreed on a partnership to strengthen collaboration on AI safety between the Canadian AI Safety Institute and the UK AI Security Institute.<\/p>\n
UK-Canada trade talks snagged before the election last year amid concerns among Canadian farmers over a UK ban on hormone-treated beef and import levies hiked on British cheese.<\/p>\n
But Downing Street said on Sunday that the Government\u2019s \u201cred lines\u201d on food standards, which remain in place under its recently-agreed trade deal with the US, would not shift.<\/p>\n
The Government has reached economic agreements with India, the US and the EU in recent months and is looking to pursue further deals with other allies to mitigate the threat of Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n
The talks between Sir Keir and Mr Carney, which followed a private dinner on Saturday evening and a pint in an Ottawa pub where the pair watched a game of ice hockey, are a clear show of support from the UK premier ahead of the G7 summit in Kananaskis next week.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister will be walking a diplomatic tightrope in the coming days as he seeks to strengthen bilateral relations with Canada while keeping the US president, who has repeatedly threatened to annex the country, on side.<\/p>\n
In warm words at the top of Sunday\u2019s meeting, Sir Keir appeared to issue a veiled challenge to Mr Trump\u2019s call to turn the nation into a \u201c51st state\u201d.<\/p>\n
Story Continues <\/p>\n
\u201cFor years, we\u2019ve worked together as Commonwealth members, as independent, democratic sovereign countries, working alongside each other on issues of security, defence, trade, the economy, you name it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think alike, we work alike, and I think that\u2019s not just a reflection on the past. I think it is very much needed in the here and now and how I think we can forge our future together as we go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Carney said the UK and Canada shared a \u201cfoundation of prosperity\u201d which would be built on in the future, including through developments in AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a great pleasure, and I think entirely appropriate that my first official bilateral in Canada with a head of government is with Prime Minister Starmer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada and the United Kingdom, of course, share history \u2013 we share values, we share governance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a parliament inspired by the Westminster tradition, but it\u2019s much, much more than a heritage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a foundation of prosperity for all our citizens going forward, and a prosperity based on those shared values, expressed through the future \u2013 artificial intelligence, critical minerals, new partnerships in security and defence, but all in pursuit of sustainable prosperity for our citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if I may, just on a personal level, I\u2019ve learned a lot from the Prime Minister over the years. I\u2019m a great admirer of his and the values that he\u2019s bringing to bear, to his government and\u2026 internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney (PA) <\/p>\n
Sir Keir will fly from Ottawa to Kananaskis in the Canadian mountains for talks with counterparts from the world\u2019s leading economies.<\/p>\n
Spiralling conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine will be top of the agenda in the talks between the UK, Canada, the US, France, Italy, Japan and Germany.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to attend.<\/p>\n
Number 10 said the Prime Minister would use the trip to urge \u201crestraint and de-escalation\u201d after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on Israel overnight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn these dangerous times, I am determined to forge a unique path to secure and renew Britain in an era of global instability,\u201d he said.
Sir Keir is also expected to meet Mr Trump, with whom he said he is in the \u201cfinal stages\u201d of completing a US-UK trade deal, at the G7 summit.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister told reporters on Saturday he had a \u201cgood relationship\u201d with the US president and \u201cthat\u2019s important\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been saying, for probably the best part of six months now, we\u2019re in a new era of defence and security, a new era for trade and the economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think it\u2019s really important for Britain to play a leading part in that, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ll be doing at the G7, talking to all of our partners in a constructive way.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m very pleased that I have developed good relations with all the G7 leaders to the point where\u2026 I have a very good relations with all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada has agreed to ratify Britain\u2019s accession to a major trans-Pacific trade pact as Sir Keir Starmer and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,943,32,393,4884,807,2129,1144,32994,76913,12184,76912,712,50069,14354,76911,24533,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-187523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-keir-starmer","15":"tag-mark-carney","16":"tag-northern-ireland","17":"tag-ottawa","18":"tag-parliament-hill","19":"tag-prime-minister","20":"tag-prime-minister-of-canada","21":"tag-scotland","22":"tag-sir-keir","23":"tag-the-uk","24":"tag-trade-pact","25":"tag-trade-talks","26":"tag-uk","27":"tag-united-kingdom","28":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114689952130195130","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}