By Paul VieiraOTTAWA -- The U.K. and Canada said the countries had agreed on an interim pact to cover trade once Britain is no longer part of a European Union-Canada trade treaty, beginning Jan. 1. The two countries said on Saturday officials would work on a more comprehensive agreement, with talks to begin within a year of the interim pact's ratification by the respective legislatures. The interim trade pact extends tariff-free access for most goods, as available under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, which was formally signed in late 2016. The U.K. is Canada's most important commercial partner in Europe, with two-way trade in merchandise goods reaching 29.04 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of $22.22 billion, in 2019. The U.K. also started talks in May with the U.S. about a trade pact.

Source: Wall Street Journal November 21, 2020 15:33 UTC