Canada-EU trade agreement enters third year

September 18, 2019

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, came into force on September 21, 2017 and will start its third year on Saturday.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service reports that, in the first twelve months of CETA's entry into force, European Union (EU) imports of Canadian products for which tariffs dropped more than 5 percentage points rose by 25.2% compared to imports of products without tariff reductions, which fell 4.3%.

During this period the Port of Montreal saw a significant increase in cargo, more than doubling the average annual historical growth. To keep up with overall growth, the Maritime Employers Association increased its labor force by 20%, adding approximately 200 employees to work on the docks over the past year.

In the 21 months since CETA's provisional application, Canadian merchandise exports to the EU have grown by $6.5 billion (9.1%) to a total value of $77.6 billion.