Britain pauses talks on Canada free trade deal over agriculture

The UK has halted trade talks with Canada in a row over hormone-treated beef that will leave UK farmers and industry with reduced access to Canadian markets.

Report informs via Financial Times that the stand-off, which will affect cheese and carmakers, follows two years of negotiations to extend preferential trading arrangements with Canada that were “rolled over” when the UK left the EU in January 2021.

The breakdown in negotiations is the first time the UK has suspended talks with a trade partner since Brexit. Canada had sought concessions on the export of hormone-treated beef, which is blocked by UK legislation.