‘Not there yet’
Negotiations to continue next Wed. to try and salvage NAFTA deal
Chrystia Freeland says a “win-winwin” deal is still within reach,
WASHINGTON —Canada and the United States could not reach a trade deal by President Donald Trump’s informal deadline of Friday, unable to immediately overcome disagreements over dairy, cultural industries, intellectual property and how to resolve trade disputes.
The final day of the scramble to hit Trump’s deadline was hampered by Trump’s “off the record” claim on Thursday, revealed by the Star, that he was not compromising at all with Canada but could not say this publicly because “it’s going to be so insulting they’re not going to be able to make a deal.” The North American Free Trade Agreement talks will resume on Wednesday. Both sides claimed late Friday that they had made progress over the four days of talks this week. “We’re making progress. We’re not there yet,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press conference. She added: “A win-win-win agreement is within reach.”
Experts on trade law said missing the Friday target was not a major setback, since Canada has at least another month to sign on to the preliminary agreement Trump struck with Mexico. But the delay extends the uncertainty hovering over Canadian businesses, investors and average citizens.
Shortly after the talks dis- solved Friday, Trump submitted an official notification to Congress of his intention to sign a trade agreement with Mexico — “and with Canada if it is willing, in a timely manner, to meet the high standards for free, fair and reciprocal trade contained therein.”
The notification is intended to immediately start the mandatory 90-day countdown before an agreement can be officially signed. Trump could either amend the notification to add Canada or, if no agreement is reached, try to proceed with Mexico alone.
But there are significant legal questions about whether he has the legal right to move forward with only Mexico after notifying Congress that he was negotiating a deal with Canada as well. Senior Senate Republicans have suggested they would push back against a Mexico-only process.