Canada trade talks continue, deadline looming

WASHINGTON — U.S. and Canadian negotiators — facing a deadline at the end of the month — will extend their negotiations to keep Canada in a North American trade bloc. After her second meeting of the day with U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland told reporters they plan to keep talking today. “Our officials now have more work to do and will continue to work this evening. Ambassador Lighthizer and I agreed to meet again tomorrow,” she said Wednesday evening. President Donald Trump began negotiations last year to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. The U.S. and Mexico reached a preliminary deal last month designed in part to shift more auto production to the United States. But Canada wasn’t part of that agreement. Freeland is trying to get America’s No. 2 trading partner back into the trade bloc. The countries are under pressure to reach a deal by the end of the month when Lighthizer must make public a copy of the full text of the agreement with Mexico. Until then, he has wriggle room to reinstate Canada. Among other things, the negotiators are battling over Canada’s high dairy tariffs and policies meant to keep the country’s culture from being overwhelmed by U.S. movies and television. Canada also wants to keep a disputeresolution process that was part of NAFTA; the Trump administration wants U.S. courts to have jurisdiction. Trump considers NAFTA, which took effect in 1994, a jobkilling disaster for the United States.