Washington | Reuters –– U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be open to a bilateral trade pact with Canada if a deal cannot be reached with Mexico to substantially revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. Asked by a reporter if he could envision maintaining free trade with Canada if NAFTA talks […] Read more
Trump says U.S.-Canada trade deal possible, excluding Mexico
Trudeau to tell Trump: We’re not your problem at NAFTA
Ottawa | Reuters — When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets President Donald Trump on Wednesday, he will try to persuade the U.S. leader to focus on Mexico as a source of potential problems at talks to update NAFTA. Although Trudeau officials were confident Trump would mostly target Mexico as the three nations started to […] Read more
Top U.S. NAFTA negotiator sees no problem with pace of talks
Ottawa | Reuters — The top U.S. negotiator at talks to modernize the NAFTA trade pact on Monday dismissed questions about why his team had so far failed to produce specific proposals on key issues, saying “I don’t see a problem.” Officials from the U.S., Mexico and Canada are in Ottawa for the third of […] Read more
Mexico, Canada dismiss Trump threats to scrap NAFTA
Mexico City/Ottawa | Reuters — Mexico and Canada on Wednesday dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to scrap NAFTA, describing it as a negotiating tactic designed to gain an advantage during talks to update one of the world’s biggest trading blocs. In comments that initially pushed Mexico’s peso currency down by more than one per […] Read more
NAFTA negotiators hone in on origin rules, dispute settlement
Washington | Reuters — U.S., Canadian and Mexican negotiators on Friday began digging into some of the thorniest issues in modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, including rules of origin for goods produced in the region, services trade and a controversial dispute settlement system. A copy of the NAFTA negotiating agenda obtained by Reuters […] Read more
U.S. takes tough lines as NAFTA negotiations begin
Washington | Reuters — The United States drew a hard line for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement on Wednesday, demanding major concessions aimed at slashing U.S. trade deficits with Mexico and Canada and boosting U.S. content for autos. At the start of talks in Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade adviser, Robert […] Read more
Canada suggests it could quit NAFTA talks over dispute mechanism
Ottawa | Reuters –– Canada laid down a tough line ahead of talks on modernizing NAFTA on Monday, suggesting it could walk away if the U.S. pushed to remove a key dispute-settlement mechanism in the trade deal. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, giving the most substantive outline yet of Canada’s goals, said she was “very optimistic” […] Read more
Canada, Mexico urge quick NAFTA talks to end uncertainty
Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — Top Canadian and Mexican diplomats expressed optimism on Thursday that a NAFTA deal could be reached early next year and cautioned that widespread uncertainty over the future of the three-way trade agreement had slowed business investment. Mexican sources say the plan is to hold seven rounds of talks at three-week intervals, […] Read more
NAFTA dispute resolution mechanism critical, Canada says
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada believes it is critical for NAFTA to have a dispute resolution mechanism, a senior official said on Tuesday, setting up a potential clash with Washington when talks to renegotiate the pact begin. The U.S. on Monday released its goals for the talks, which aim to update an agreement that came […] Read more
U.S. dairy lobby increases pressure on Canada
Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — The U.S. dairy lobby is ratcheting up the pressure on Canada as talks to renegotiate NAFTA draw closer, demanding concessions the Canadian government looks unwilling to grant, according to people familiar with the file. The result could be a brawl that sours efforts to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, […] Read more