EU ambassador touts benefits of trade agreement
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/03/2018 (2199 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The European Union’s ambassador to Canada, Peteris Ustubs, used all sorts of analogies to springtime and sunrises on Tuesday in reference to Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in his first public appearance in Winnipeg since the free-trade agreement went into effect in September.
Ustubs did not make excuses for his attempts to paint a rosy picture of the prospects for Canadian companies at the Winnipeg event. He was doing missionary work as part of a joint effort between his office and Global Affairs Canada that was specifically designed to promote the deal with Canadian trade commissioners from the Netherlands, Austria and Germany in attendance.
“I am happy to do this,” Ustubs said. “I spoke with Global Affairs Canada early on after my arrival (in Canada) about doing CETA promotion together. It is not just one side. We are both interested in CETA.”
Ustubs spoke about the transparency and detailed nature of the agreement and urged Canadian companies — in particular small and medium-sized enterprises — to try to it out.
“CETA can be used by all sizes of companies across Canada and across Europe and there is no complex assembly required,” he said in his lighthearted remarks.
Going into the new agreement, exports to the EU accounted for only eight per cent of Canada’s total exports — including a modest $575 million from Manitoba in 2016.
But whereas prior to the agreement only 25 per cent of Canadian imports to the EU were duty-free, once CETA is fully implemented (there are a number of items that will be phased in over the course of the next few years), the EU will have eliminated tariffs on about 99 per cent of the technical tariff lines on Canadian imports.
For instance it is expected that CETA will open up new opportunities for Manitoba’s agriculture and agri-food exports to the EU, the world’s largest importer of agriculture and agri-food products. The EU accounted for more than 17 per cent of global agricultural imports in 2016. Almost 94 per cent of EU agriculture tariff lines have become duty-free for Canadian exporters, including the 95-euro-per-tonne tariff on wheat that will be phased out over the next seven years.
And when it comes to importing European goods to Canada, many import tariffs are also coming down.
Winnipeg fire truck manufacturer, Fort Garry Fire Trucks, was quick out of the gate in taking advantage of tariff-free imports of some specialized equipment.
Last year it started importing ladders made by Bronto Skylift, a Finnish company recognized as the world’s leading manufacturer of articulated aerial platforms.
Fort Garry is now one of only two North American companies licensed to use the equipment. The other is a Florida company that pays a 6.5 per cent tariff. Fort Garry imports theirs tariff-free.
“We can sell it cheaper than the U.S. company,” said Steve Suché, Fort Garry’s head of government and export sale. “It gives us a leg up.”
After importing the equipment, Fort Garry, the largest fire truck manufacturer in Canada, will also have the ability to sell its fire trucks with the Bronto Skylift in selected third countries as part of the agreement with the Finnish company.
“This shows the value-added element of CETA,” Ustubs said. “Fort Garry can import to Canada, do the assembly and then export to other countries.”
He spoke of the potential CETA provides to do projects across all sectors including information technology and co-operation in services.
He said in the early days of the agreement, there is not necessarily any urgency to bump up the numbers.
“There is an opportunity to make different kinds of new partnerships,” he said. “I think it would be difficult to set some kind of targets immediately. What we would like to see is positive tendencies.”
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Martin Cash
Reporter
Martin Cash has been writing a column and business news at the Free Press since 1989. Over those years he’s written through a number of business cycles and the rise and fall (and rise) in fortunes of many local businesses.