Canada opens market to Britain under Pacific trade pact

Canada has agreed to ratify Britain’s accession to a massive Pacific-rim trade pact, allowing the two countries to trade under its terms as they push for closer commerce ties amid Washington’s tariff war.

The breakthrough concerning the U.K.’s membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) came after a private late-night dinner between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies. 

Canada plans to introduce the legislation to the Ottawa parliament this fall. The two sides also agreed to launch a joint task force to make progress on areas including technology and artificial intelligence.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister said that the world has changed when it comes to trade and the economy, so he wants teams to go as far and as fast as possible.” 

The task force will also look to make progress on the wider UK-Canada Free Trade Agreement, although a U.K. official told POLITICO “it’s more of a staging post toward relaunch and whether we think it’s possible to get there within our red lines.”

While the U.K. was already a member of the CPTPP — the world’s fourth-largest free-trade pact, whose members had a combined $15.8 trillion in GDP in 2024 — Canada had refused to ratify its membership, preventing Ottawa and London from trading under its rules. Talks between the two sides broke down in January 2024 under the previous U.K. government amid clashes over hormone-fed beef. The breakdown shut British cheesemakers out of the Canadian market and hit U.K. carmakers with an extra 6 percent tariff when the U.K.’s post-Brexit rollover deal expired. 

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister said that the world has changed when it comes to trade and the economy, so he wants teams to go as far and as fast as possible.” | Andy Rain/EPA

Canadian Ambassador to the U.K. Ralph Goodale previously said that Britain’s distaste for hormone-treated beef is “not scientifically justified” and that he doesn’t foresee its “easily being solved” in talks. 

Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu told POLITICO that “Canada has always remained at the negotiating table and we welcome the U.K.’s openness to resume talks.”

“We look forward to continued collaboration on advancing a modern and ambitious FTA that delivers real benefits for workers, businesses and consumers in both countries.”