EU-Canada Trade Agreement Wins European Parliament Green Light

by Dramelin 5:30 AM 0 comments

"This is Europe?s answer to Trump?s trade policy,? said Manfred Weber, German head of the Christian Democrats in the 28-nation assembly. Three years of negotiations on an EU-U.S. trade deal have been put on hold since Trump took office in January and let loose proposals for American import taxes. ?The approval by the EU Parliament of the Canada accord means the biggest political crisis in European trade policy has finally bottomed out,? said Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels. The European Parliament approved a landmark free-trade agreement with Canada, shoring up Europe?s market-opening clout in the face of a populist surge across the continent and U.S. President Donald Trump?s protectionist tilt. EU-Canada trade in goods was 63.5 billion euros in 2015, while services commerce totaled 27.2 billion euros in 2014.