Canada targets British farming in wake of Australian trade deal
British farmers are concerned that the deal will ply the UK with cheap imports and leave them unable to compete
22 May 2021 • 8:00pm
Canada is seeking to secure sweeping access to the British market for its farmers in trade talks, after UK concessions to Australia threatened to open the floodgates for food imports.
Ottawa believes it can secure an ambitious deal on agriculture in negotiations later this year and hopes to take inspiration from the generous agreement set to be sealed with Australia,
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
It came as Whitehall sources said a trade deal with Australia would pave the way for a New Zealand agreement within weeks, with Wellington expected to be offered similar terms.
UK to offer Australian farmers tariff-free access - but not until 2037
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London | Australian beef, lamb and sugarcane farmers face a potentially long wait to crack the UK market, with Britain reportedly looking for a 15-year phase-in period for agriculture in the nearly-completed free-trade deal.
Prime Minister Boris Johnsonâs spokesman did not deny local media reports on Friday that a 15-year security blanket would be thrown over British farmers, after senior ministers had earlier clashed over the free-trade agreement (FTA).
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is keen to see an early Australia-UK FTA.Â
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Britainâs offer is reportedly to scrap all quotas and tariffs for Australian agricultural exporters - a major departure from the highly restrictive EU regime - but not until 2037, assuming the FTA comes into force next year.
By Harry Holmes2021-05-20T10:19:00+01:00
Source: Unsplash
Experts have sought to downplay the impact an FTA with Australia could have on the UK meat sector
Trade experts sought to calm panic on British farms this week after it emerged the UK was preparing to offer Australia tariff-free access to British food markets.
The British government is reportedly locked in an internal battle over the terms of the deal, according to the Financial Times, with Boris Johnson and trade secretary Liz Truss said to back plans to give Australian goods tariff and quota-free access to the UK market, phased over 10 to 15 years.
Boris Johnson: Australian trade deal a ‘massive opportunity’ for British farmers
Prime Minister weighs in on row in Cabinet, which is split over how much access to offer Australian farmers in free trade agreement
19 May 2021 • 8:33pm
Boris Johnson will chair a crunch meeting of Cabinet colleagues on Thursday morning to thrash out red lines
Credit: Jessica Taylor
Boris Johnson has signalled his support for a trade deal with Australia that scraps all tariffs on meat imports, saying it would offer British farmers a massive opportunity to export their beef and lamb.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister weighed in on the row engulfing his Cabinet, which is bitterly split over how much access to offer Australian farmers in a bilateral free trade agreement.