U.S. officially opens NAFTA talks

WASHINGTON — The United States has officially served notice of its intention to renegotiate the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, triggering a 90-day consultation window before talks begin later this summer with Canada and Mexico.

The Trump administration rang the opening bell Thursday with a letter to the key congressional power-brokers who must now be consulted as U.S. negotiators prepare their list of priorities. The letter itself was mundane. It cited the need to modernize a creaky old agreement, add new provisions relevant to the modern economy, and mentioned things already negotiated in the TransPacific Partnership, the deal abandoned by Donald Trump: digital trade flows, intellectual property, limits on state-owned enterprises.

It barely filled a single page and was drastically scaled back from the laundry list of complaints included in a draft version earlier this year. Some U.S. proponents of a hardball approach expressed disappointment. But it’s still early. The vagueness of that letter left wiggle room for the administration to adjust its priorities over the coming months, as it prepares a more detailed list to be released in about 60 days.

One key U.S. player has hinted at a tougher approach.

He may have signalled it by choosing the day of the NAFTA notice to make another announcement involving Canada, one expected for awhile: that the U.S. will explore whether Canadian subsidies could lead to U.S. duties on Bombardier.

“Free and fair trade is the new standard for U.S. trade deals,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who issued separate statements on NAFTA and Bombardier. “Since the signing of NAFTA, we have seen our manufacturing industry decimated, factories shuttered and countless workers left jobless.

“President Trump is going to change that.”

The long-standing assumption in the national capitals is the negotiations will ultimately touch some of the hot-button issues in CanadaU.S. trade — dairy, auto parts, lumber, pharmaceuticals, dutyfree shopping, liquor imports and Buy American rules.

One current Canadian official sums up the potential challenge ahead, in trying to win support from dozens of people with different priorities, and different domestic interests in their respective states.

“When you send an orange into the U.S. Congress, it can come out a banana,” he said.

In private, different Canadian officials sound fine with one of several potential outcomes: A quick deal, a good deal and, in the absence of either, no deal at all. In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada will negotiate in good faith.

“We are ready to roll up our sleeves,” Freeland said. “We will work hard and seriously on updating this essential agreement. . .

“Our focus in Canada is on getting a good deal.”