Freeland continues battle for steel industry, NAFTA deal

WASHINGTON Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland emerged Tuesday from meeting U.S. trade czar Robert Lighthizer with the threat of steel tariffs and uncertainty over NAFTA hovering in the dense, humid Washington air.

Freeland began her two-day visit to Washington with a twohour, face-to-face meeting inside the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the site of intensive North American Free Trade Agreement talks over the last several weeks.

“Over the past week our teams have been very intensely engaged,” she told reporters, adding that she has also been speaking with Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo. “We have continued working hard on the negotiation.”

Canada’s latest reprieve from potentially crippling U.S. tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum expires on Friday, and there are fears they could go into effect without a NAFTA deal in place, wreaking havoc on the continent’s economy.

Freeland insisted the steel issue remains separate from the NAFTA talks, a deal U.S. President Donald Trump has blasted and threatened to rip up.

In the past, Freeland has said Canada wouldn’t take NAFTA’s demise lightly, and there will be consequences as well if Canada loses its steel and aluminum exemption on Friday. “Our government always is very ready and very prepared to respond appropriately to every action. We are always prepared and ready to defend our workers and our industry,” she said. “Canadian steel workers should absolutely know that the government of Canada has their back ”

Mexico was not at Tuesday’s meeting, but Guajardo said last week he sees a 40-per-cent chance of reaching a NAFTA deal before July 1, Mexico’s election day.

The three countries have been working around the clock in hopes of getting a deal in time for the current iteration of the U.S. Congress, and ahead of the election in Mexico July 1.

The rules on autos remain a major sticking point, which has left stakeholders and observers alike skeptical that Freeland will be able to accomplish anything substantial during her visit. Freeland said that was a major topic of the conversation with Lighthizer on Tuesday.