British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday urged Canada to use its new free trade agreement with Europe as a basis for a pact with Britain after it leaves the European Union. May was welcomed on her first official visit to Canada's parliament by a military guard before sitting down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"There is an awful lot for us to talk about in our bilateral relationship and how we can build on the relationship with CETA," May said. The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is to provisionally take effect on Thursday, removing 99 percent of customs duties between the two sides.
Britain is Canada's largest trading partner in Europe and can take advantage of CETA as long as it remains a part of the EU, but not after Brexit in 2019. A spokesman for Downing Street said earlier that Britain hopes to "use (CETA) as the basis of our own bilateral trading arrangement (with Canada) once we have left the EU."
Trudeau said he looked forward to discussing "opportunities to continue working closely with the United Kingdom as it moves forward with Brexit." "We'll make sure that the relationship between Canada and the UK stays as strong as it always has been and continues to with that seamless transition," he said.
May's visit to Ottawa comes as British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called for a clean break with the EU in a 4,000 word essay for the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
His comments drew praise from eurosceptic members of his Conservative party, while others saw it as an attempt to force May's hand ahead of a Friday speech in the Italian city of Florence, when she will give an update on her plans and the progress of negotiations with the EU. After her meeting with Trudeau, May will travel to New York on Tuesday for the UN General Assembly.
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