By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--The U.K. said Thursday it would pause negotiations with Canada on a comprehensive liberalized-trade treaty, citing a lack of progress.
"We reserve the right to pause negotiations with any country if progress is not being made," according to the statement, published on the social-media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, by the High Commissioner to Canada. The statement added that the U.K. would be willing to restart talks with Canada, so long as it benefits businesses and consumers "on both sides of the Atlantic."
The statement did not elaborate on why talks, launched in March 2022, broke down. A spokesman at the U.K. High Commission in Ottawa didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng wasn't immediately available for comment.
In November 2020, to much fanfare, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former U.K. leader Boris Johnson announced an interim trade pact to take effect in 2021, once Britain was no longer part of a European Union-Canada trade treaty. At that time, Trudeau and U.K. officials pledged to work toward a more comprehensive trade agreement.
Canadian government data covering 2022 indicate that the U.K. was Canada's third-largest trading partner, with trade in goods and services valued at 46.5 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of US$34.4 billion.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-25-24 1533ET
