Envoy: U.S., Canada race to meet NAFTA deadline

WASHINGTON — U.S. and Canadian negotiators are working around the clock on a deal to keep Canada in a North American trade bloc ahead of a Sept. 30 U.S. deadline.

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland told reporters that negotiators from the two sides are “in pretty much constant contact.”

She met with her counterpart, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer on Thursday.

Freeland is returning to Canada for a summit of women foreign ministers Friday but said she and Lighthizer remain in close contact by phone and email.

Canada was left out when the United States and Mexico reached an agreement last month to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. Freeland is trying to get the No. 2 U.S. trade partner reinstated.