Nafta talks: Canada hails jet case as victory for free trade

montreal — Canadian plane maker Bombardier won a major US case on Friday, which government officials said showed the importance of free trade at a time when talks to modernise the Nafta pact are moving slowly.

“Canada-United States trade is important to the prosperity of both our countries. This decision will support well-paying middle-class jobs on both sides of the border,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.

The United States, which has taken a more isolationist stance under President Donald Trump, wants big changes to the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement.

Jerry Dias, the head of a union which represents some Bombardier workers, told reporters the ruling represented “a slap across the face of the Trump administration” because it showed that taking protectionist stances at a time when the two nations’ economies are so tightly

Canada-US trade is important to the prosperity of both our countries. This decision will support wellpaying middle-class jobs on both sides of the border Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Foreign Minister

linked was “foolish.” He spoke in Montreal, where teams from the United States, Canada and Mexico have gathered for the sixth of seven planned rounds on how to revamp the 1994 pact.

Progress is slow, prompting Mexico to suggest the talks could be extended to give officials more time to address disagreements threatening to undermine the $1.2 trillion treaty.

Dias, who speaks regularly to chief Canadian negotiator Steve Verheul, said the talks were going nowhere, thanks to a series of contentious US proposals. — Reuters