Canada, Britain strike interim post-Brexit trade deal

OTTAWA - Canada and Britain signed the Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement on Saturday as an interim post-Brexit trade agreement that will take effect on Jan 1, 2021 when Britain cuts its final ties to the European Union.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his British counterpart Boris Johnson announced the deal at a live video news conference on Saturday.

"Now we get to continue to work on a bespoke agreement, a comprehensive agreement, over the coming years that will really maximize our trade opportunities and boost things for everyone," Trudeau said.

"Free trade is an important part of the way that we're going to bounce back from COVID, but I also think that Canada and the UK share a perspective about building back greener," said Johnson.

The new deal will roll over the provisions in the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which will no longer include Britain on Jan 1.

It will provide continued access to the benefits of CETA on a bilateral basis, including the elimination of tariffs on 98 percent of Canadian products exported to the United Kingdom.

Britain is Canada's fifth largest trading partner after the United States, China, Mexico and Japan.