By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Workshop shares how trade agreement with EU can benefit local business

May 8, 2018 | 11:59 PM

Local business representatives were given an in-depth look Monday at the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA.

An info session was held at the Sheraton by Central Alberta Access Prosperity along with Henk ten Wolde, the president of the Dutch Western Canada Connection.

Prior to CETA, only 25 per cent of tariff lines to the EU were duty-free. Now they are 98 per cent duty-free, a number which will eventually jump to 99 per cent.

ten Wolde, the former Trade Commissioner at the Netherlands Trade Office in Edmonton, said the message is for local companies to open their eyes and stop just focusing on the United States when trying to expand and diversify.

“Everybody knows what’s going on with NAFTA at the moment. It’s not really going well. The auto industry is a big issue and Mr. Trump is really focusing on getting America first,” said ten Wolde. “Alberta is of course focused on Asia, but with Asia there are no trade agreements with this province. So what we are looking for is a grown-up market in Europe with more than 500 million good-paying consumers.”

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Describing Amsterdam as ‘logistics central’ of the EU, ten Wolde added that the city offers Alberta an excellent choice of entry for local product because the Dutch not only still see Canada as its liberators, but Alberta is one of the only provinces with direct flights to the Netherlands capital.

He said his job is to connect Alberta businesses with potential partners overseas.

Pam Steckler, Managing Director of International Engagement with Access Prosperity said the EU seems to be a key market of interest.

“All of the companies that we work with have services and products that are specifically geared to different parts of Europe,” she said. “Oil and gas will forever be part and parcel of who Alberta is, but it looks like a lot of the companies are diversifying outside their comfort zone and they’re actually adapting to the current needs of the growing future of that industry.”

Steckler said areas where Albertans can take advantage of CETA is in agriculture with feedstock to growing technology, as well as with clean technology.

“This session is helping businesses understand specifically how this trade agreement works. Companies may be more inclined to pursue markets that don’t have tariffs, that don’t have trade taxes, so to speak,” she said. “So what it does is it eliminates a lot of the grey zone so companies can focus on a specific market niche.”

More information on how local businesses can benefit from CETA can be found by contacting Central Alberta Access Prosperity.