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US, Canada Push to Resolve Issues, Reach NAFTA Deal


Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks to members of the media as she arrives at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Aug. 28, 2018, in Washington. Canada, America's longtime ally and No. 2 trading partner, was left out of a proposed deal Trump just reached with Mexico and is working to keep its place in the regional free-trade bloc — and fend off the threat of U.S. taxes on its vehicles.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks to members of the media as she arrives at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Aug. 28, 2018, in Washington. Canada, America's longtime ally and No. 2 trading partner, was left out of a proposed deal Trump just reached with Mexico and is working to keep its place in the regional free-trade bloc — and fend off the threat of U.S. taxes on its vehicles.

U.S. and Canadian negotiators pushed ahead in grinding talks to rescue the North American Free Trade Agreement on Thursday, but a few stubborn issues stood in the way of a deal, including dairy quotas, protection for Canadian media companies, and how to resolve future trade disputes.

A U.S. source familiar with the discussions in Washington said it was still unclear whether the two sides could bridge the gaps or whether President Donald Trump will opt for a Mexico-only bilateral trade deal.

“We’re down to three issues: Chapter 19, the cultural issues and dairy. We’ve created leverage and driven Canada to the table,” the source said. “Part of our problem is that Canada has been backsliding on its commitments (on dairy).”

NAFTA’s Chapter 19 governs how disputes are resolved.

FILE - A commercial truck exits the highway for the Ambassador Bridge to Canada, in Detroit, Michigan, Aug. 30, 2018.
FILE - A commercial truck exits the highway for the Ambassador Bridge to Canada, in Detroit, Michigan, Aug. 30, 2018.

Talks ‘making good progress’

Trump has set a deadline for a deal this week, prompting aides to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland to work well into the evening Thursday to find ways to move forward.

Bloomberg News cited a Canadian government official as saying that a deal was not expected to be reached this week.

“We are making good progress,” Freeland told reporters following a short meeting with Lighthizer at the USTR offices Thursday evening.

She repeated her earlier statements that the day’s discussions were “constructive and productive” amid an atmosphere of “goodwill on both sides.”

She declined to discuss specific issues under negotiation but said talks would resume Friday.

Dairy farmer Marie-Pier G. Vincent poses with one of her dairy cows at her farm in Saint-Valerien-de-Milton, southeast of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Aug. 30, 2018.
Dairy farmer Marie-Pier G. Vincent poses with one of her dairy cows at her farm in Saint-Valerien-de-Milton, southeast of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Aug. 30, 2018.

Differences remain

The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady, a powerful voice in Congress on trade, told reporters that differences remained between the two sides over Canada’s dairy quota regime, a trade dispute resolution settlement procedure and “other longstanding issues.”

The Trump administration charges that Canada discriminates against U.S. dairy exports. It also wants to end the Chapter 19 arbitration panels for resolving disputes over anti-dumping tariffs, something Canada has used to defend its lumber exports to the United States, despite U.S. charges that Canadian lumber is unfairly subsidized.

“They are continuing to push toward a conclusion of that agreement. A lot depends on the seriousness of Canada in resolving these final disputes,” Brady told reporters after speaking with Lighthizer earlier Thursday. “My sense is that everyone is at the table with the intention of working these last, always difficult issues out.”

The third unresolved issue is Canada’s insistence that previous NAFTA cultural exemptions protecting its publishing and media companies from being acquired by American companies be preserved. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week said this was important to Canada’s national sovereignty and identity.

Lighthizer has referred to the exemptions as “cultural protectionism” as Canadian companies are free to buy U.S. media outlets.

Trump threatens bilateral deal

Trump has threatened to push ahead with a bilateral deal with Mexico, effectively killing the three-country NAFTA pact, which covers $1.2 trillion in trade.

The United States and Mexico reached an agreement on overhauling NAFTA at the beginning of last week, turning up the pressure on Canada to agree to new terms.

Trump said Wednesday that he expected it to be clear whether there would be a deal to include Canada in a few days.

Canada also wants a permanent exemption from Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, and for Washington to eliminate the threat of U.S. auto tariffs.

But Freeland said the “Section 232” national security tariffs on metals were not part of the current NAFTA talks.

“Canada’s position on the 232 tariffs is unchanged. These tariffs are unjustified and illegal,” she said Thursday.

Trump has claimed that the 1994 NAFTA pact has caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs, something that most economists dispute.

Data released Wednesday showed the U.S. trade deficit hit a five-month high of $50 billion. The shortfall with Canada shot up 57.6 percent.

Trump has notified Congress he intends to sign the trade deal reached last week with Mexico by the end of November, and officials said the text would be published by around Oct. 1.

Negotiators have blown through several deadlines since the talks started in August 2017. As the process grinds on, some in Washington insist Trump cannot pull out of NAFTA without the approval of Congress.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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