Dutch lawmakers to vote on EU-Canada free trade deal

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch lawmakers are holding a knife-edge vote Tuesday on a free trade deal between the European Union and Canada, with Prime Minister Mark Rutte struggling to command a majority.

Defeat would be a serious blow for the liberal leader Rutte, who is a strong supporter of the deal and of free trade.

Rejection by the Dutch parliament would throw into doubt the future of the pact, formally called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA. Most of the deal has been provisionally in force since 2017, but it must be ratified by all EU parliaments before fully entering into effect.

The deal eliminates almost all customs duties and increases quotas for certain key products in each other’s market. The EU said it will save its companies some 600 million euros a year in duties.

Implementing the full deal is also important for the EU as it tries to strike trade deals with other global partners and amid broader tensions in trade, particularly with the U.S. and Britain in the aftermath of Brexit.

Deeply skeptical Dutch lawmakers debated legislation enabling the treaty over two tense days last week.

Overseas Trade Minister Sigrid Kaag urged parliament to support the pact “in times of geopolitical turbulence and great uncertainty.”

She said the deal “is also about values and shared values and how we see the future of our country: Open to the world, strongly embedded in the European Union, our European home.”

Supporters also point to a long history of strong relations between the Netherlands and Canada and even to the role of Canadian forces in the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi occupation at the end of World War II.

But opposition lawmakers expressed fear that it will erode food safety standards and expose Dutch farmers...