Brits’ distaste for hormone-fed beef is ‘unscientific,’ says Canadian ambassador

LONDON — The United States and Canada’s trade negotiators finally agree on something: When it comes to North American beef, the Brits are too picky.

Speaking to Anne McElvoy on POLITICO’s Power Play podcast, Canada’s top diplomat in the U.K., Ralph Goodale, said Britain’s resistance to opening its borders to hormone-treated beef is “not scientifically justified.”

Ottawa is keen to diversify its trade with allies like the U.K. following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s stunning victory in Canada’s general election this week.

But reviving talks for an updated trade deal with London is unlikely, said Goodale, a former finance minister who served in the Cabinets of three Liberal prime ministers between 1993 and 2019.

The U.K. “has a series of unscientific nontariff trade barriers in place,” the high commissioner added, pointing to British food standards on meat imports.

Pressure to drop these standards played a central role in Britain’s previous Tory government’s decision to walk away from the negotiating table with Canada in early 2024.

As talks broke down, U.K. cheesemakers lost Canadian market access, with many facing tariffs of 245 per cent on their produce.

“We had a special quota in place for U.K. cheese going into Canada, which the U.K. used very, very successfully — and then the U.K. left Europe,” Goodale said.

“Canada didn't Brexit, the U.K. Brexited, and when you left Europe, you left your cheese quota in Brussels,” he argued. “Now if you've got a problem with the cheese quota, go to Brussels and get it because you left it there.”

“That's your problem, not mine,” Goodale added. “That's where the issue lies. This is not a supply management issue in Canada. This is a Brexit screw up in the U.K.”

‘Not easily solved’

Former Bank of England Governor Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau attempted to get the talks restarted early this year as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to hit Canada with tariffs.

“There are issues with respect to agriculture,” Carney explained after meeting with Keir Starmer in No. 10 during his first foreign trip in March.

Even the Labour government “feels for political reasons, it's not able to move on that issue,” Goodale acknowledged, noting Canadians “understand that perfectly well.”

Successive British governments have set out changes to U.K. food standards as a red line — including in talks with both Trump administrations.

“I don't see that one easily being solved,” Goodale said. “But we are friends, allies,” he added, faced with “a common challenge” in the shape of Trump’s trade war and its massive tariffs.

Canada wants to work with the U.K. on artificial intelligence, sharing its critical minerals and in nuclear technologies like small reactors, Goodale said. “There are many areas where we can expand, trade and grow successfully together.”