The European Union and Canada have signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
The document removes 99% of tariffs between the countries. The agreement will take effect partly in early 2017, but officially it will come into force after ratification by the Parliament of Canada and all 28 EU member state governments.
According to the European politicians, the CETA deal is just a dress rehearsal for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a trade agreement to be negotiated between the EU and the US. Negotiations of the deal were suspended because of the protests in Europe. European farmers opposed TTIP, claiming that it would put them at a competitive disadvantage with the US agricultural producers.
Moreover, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spoke out against the agreement.
The CETA deal also had opponents. Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia blocked the EU and Canadian free trade agreement. However, after negotiations between the local and federal authorities, Belgium’s Walloons finally caved in.
