Federal government ‘heartened’ by minor gains at Montreal talks

It ain’t over. The North American Free Trade Agreement slogs ahead with minor progress and no withdrawal notice — yet — from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“I am, without being overly optimistic, I am heartened by the progress, as stated today, which we have made here in Montreal,” said Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland during a news conference Monday.

Despite harsh, but not unexpected, words from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the sixth round of renegotiating the trilateral trade deal was not without its moments of optimism.

Canada and Mexico, at least, expect a late-February meeting in Mexico City. Lighthizer demanded progress before then, and though he didn’t commit to a “see you next month,” neither did he indicate any plans for withdrawal from the deal.

Now being discussed are what Freeland is calling “creative” Canadian proposals to meet “unconventional” U.S. demands — a step down from the language she was using late last year to describe then-“unworkable” American requests for new rules of origin for automobiles, the dismantling of dispute settlement processes and a five-year sunset clause.

Until Lighthizer arrived in Montreal, U.S. negotiators apparently

had their hands tied on offering any input on those ideas.

Based on the public statement their boss offered, the U.S. will put up a fight on Canada’s idea to include emerging technologies and intellectual property as auto parts in a rules-of-origin assessment.

But Flavio Volpe, representing the auto parts industry on the margins of the talks in Montreal, exuded optimism on this front, theorizing that Lighthizer is just trying to be a tough negotiator. He suggested the U.S. auto industry will be on board and will lobby for the idea’s approval — it was, after all, consulted on the construction of the proposal. “I think the signal here is probably the Canadian proposal is so good for industry, and you’ll hear from all the industry commentators, that it might be difficult to say that that idea came from somebody else.”