Trudeau gets U.S. assurances on NAFTA

Pence praises Canadian trade relationship

PROVIDENCE, R.I. • The Canadian government achieved what it wanted during U.S. meetings this week: clear, public assurances from powerful Republican politicians that the North American Free Trade Agreement will be preserved.

Those soothing messages came just days before the U.S. government is set to release its positions for NAFTA negotiations, which are scheduled to begin next month under the shadow of intermittent threats by President Donald Trump to rip up the three-country deal.

Those reassurances didn’t just come from the state governors gathered in Rhode Island for their summer meetings. They also came from Trump’s vice president. In a speech to dozens of state governors, Mike Pence promised a collaborative approach.

“We will modernize NAFTA for the 21st century so that it is a win-win-win for all of our trading partners in North America,” Pence said, as Justin Trudeau clapped and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland took notes.

“Let me assure you: The United States and Canada have already built a remarkably strong relationship under these two leaders ... We’re grateful for the prime minister’s leadership and his early outreach to this administration. President Trump recognizes that every trade relationship can improve and ... we’re looking forward to bringing NAFTA into the future in a way that will equally benefit both our countries.”

Trudeau became the first foreign leader to address the annual governors’ gathering.

It was the culmination of a months-long Canadian strategy of reaching out to governors in 11 politically important states, to encourage them to defend NAFTA.

The prime minister said he was gratified by the response from various levels of government and urged more trade, not less: “We must get this right,” Trudeau said.