EU Trade Chief Promotes Benefits Of Canada Trade Deal

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has described the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada as "the most ambitious and progressive [deal] we have ever struck."

Malmstrom was promoting CETA and the EU's free trade agenda in a speech in Toronto. Describing the benefits of CETA, Malmstrom said: "It will cut 99 percent of tariffs, in many cases from day one. It will expand access to services markets. It will allow companies to bid for each other's government contracts. … It will help investors who want to expand and create jobs. It will mean new opportunities for Canadians who want to work in Europe, and vice versa."

Among the tariff cuts Malmstrom highlighted was a reduction in tariffs on clothes and shoes from 18 percent to zero percent, and the elimination of tariffs on most foods, which are currently levied at between 10 and 20 percent. She added that the EU will scrap tariffs on Canadian maple syrup.
"Most of these benefits can occur once the deal is provisionally applied, after both sides have notified that they have completed all the necessary procedures. That will happen this spring. Full application - which would bring extra benefits, such as investment protection - will happen once EU country has ratified the deal," she explained.

Malmstrom also emphasized the EU's commitment to "the virtues of progressive trade policy." She noted that the new US administration "has effectively put the EU-US talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in the deep freeze," and warned that proposals for a US border adjustment tax "could have a significant, adverse effect on trade, and be at odds with World Trade Organization rules."

Malmstrom argued that turning away from open trade would raise prices and cost jobs. "We do not agree with those who want to raise walls or circumvent global rules," she said.

Source: Tax News