Readout
Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, met with Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for International Trade, on the margins of the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers meeting held in Italy on October 11 and 12, 2021.
During what was their first ministerial meeting, Minister Ng congratulated Secretary of State Trevelyan on her new appointment and discussed the ways they could work together to continue building the close strategic and commercial ties between Canada and the United Kingdom.
Minister Ng reinforced Canada's commitment to working with the United Kingdom to ensure that the rules-based international trading system, with the WTO at its core, is stable and predictable and that everyone-including small businesses and women entrepreneurs-can access the benefits of trade. The Ministers noted the G20 and G7 Trade and Investment Ministers meetings this month, as well as the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference at the end of November, as important opportunities to advance shared trade policy priorities.
Minister Ng welcomed the United Kingdom's application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and discussed the progress in the country's accession process. She reiterated the importance of expanding the CPTPP's membership to include economies able and willing to meet its high standard of commitment and ambitious market access outcomes.
Minister Ng stated that she looks forward to launching negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement with the United Kingdom. She highlighted that an agreement tailored to specific bilateral interests and trade priorities could further deepen the Canada-U.K. relationship.
