Canada and the United Kingdom have promised to start negotiations to agree on a free trade agreement before April 1, 2022, with the aim of achieving a permanent bilateral agreement.
At the bilateral level, Canada has implemented free trade agreements with the following countries: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, South Korea, Panama, Peru, Ukraine and the European Free Trade Association (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein).
In addition, in September 2017, the provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union (EU), with its member states, began.
CETA will enter into force definitively once all EU Member States ratify the text in accordance with their respective internal constitutional requirements.
However, the UK ceased to be part of CETA after December 31, 2020 and Canada-UK.
The Business Continuity Agreement (TCA) entered into force on April 1, 2021, substantially replicating CETA bilaterally.
Although the TCA does not have an expiration date, it commits Canada and the United Kingdom to start free trade negotiations before April 1, 2022, with the aim of achieving a permanent bilateral agreement, according to information from the Canadian government.
FTA
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade agreement between Canada and Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, which entered into force on January 30, 2018.
Canada was among the first six countries to ratify the agreement, along with Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore. On January 14, 2019 and September 19, 2021, the CPTPP also entered into force with respect to Vietnam and Peru, respectively.
As a result, Canada now benefits from expanded preferential market access to CPTPP countries that have ratified the agreement.
The CPTPP also provides for the potential expansion of the Agreement to include new economies, provided they have the capacity to meet its high standards. On June 1, 2021, Canada and its CPTPP partners agreed to assess the UK’s possible accession, and these accession discussions are ongoing.