Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement

The Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) is a free trade agreement between Canada and Israel.

History

It was signed on July 31, 1996, and came into effect on January 1, 1997. It was Canada's first free trade agreement outside of the Western Hemisphere. 80% Tariffs on most manufactured and agricultural goods were eliminated. However, CIFTA does not affect certain agriculture sectors like poultry, dairy and eggs. [1]

CIFTA was amended in 2002 and 2003; the most recent amendment was in 2015[2]. As of May 27, 2019, Bill C-85[3] currently before parliament seeks to amend CIFTA and awaits royal assent.[4] The first amendment allows certain products like textiles to undergo some levels of processing in the United States without losing their status while in transit. The second amendment further reduced agricultural tariffs.

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CIFTA's main goals include:

  • The elimination of trade barriers and tariffs
  • Promotion of fair competition
  • The increase of investments between the two nations

While Israel is not one of Canada's major trading partners, the Canadian government sought to put Canadian businesses on the same footing as US businesses, who were benefiting from the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement. Bilateral trade increased to $1.24 billion by 2005 .

History of trade balances
Trade Type20102011201220132014
Total Canadian Exports385,007399,878265,631379,773449,875
Total Canadian Imports1,006,448982,4371,144,8271,059,0101,107,296
Trade Balance-621,441-582,559-879,197-679,237-657,420

Amounts in thousands of Canadian dollars ($CDN).[5]

Exploratory discussions for the modernization

There are a number of ongoing discussions for the modernization of the agreement.

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References
  1. "Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement - CIFTA". Canada Business. 2005-05-09. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25.
  2. "Canada-Israel Modernized Free Trade Agreement". Global Affairs Canada (Government of Canada). 2015-07-20. Archived from the original on 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  3. "An Act to amend the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act and to make related amendments to other Acts". Parliament of Canada. May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  4. "Minister Carr welcomes royal assent of the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement". Global Affairs Canada. May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  5. "Report - Trade Data Online". Government of Canada.
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