Canada’s Foreign Minister said on Friday that an agreement had yet to be reached with the U.S. on salvaging the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
“We are not there yet,” Chrystia Freeland told reporters during a break in a fourth and final day of negotiations with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. “We’re looking for a good deal, not just any deal, and we will only agree to a deal that’s a good deal for Canada.”
President Donald Trump has threatened to leave Canada on the sidelines since announcing a breakthrough with Mexico on Monday, but he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both have expressed optimism a deal is close. “We are replacing NAFTA with a beautiful, brand new U.S.-Mexico trade deal,” Mr. Trump told a crowd in Evansville, Indiana, on Thursday night. On Canada, he said: “I think it is going to happen and we really have developed a really good relationship. But they have to treat us fairly. They haven’t treated us fairly.”
The sticking points
The sticking points between Ottawa and Washington centre on Canada’s managed dairy market — something Mr. Trump has criticised frequently — and how to handle some disputes among NAFTA partners, as well as patent protections for medicines.
Also, Mr. Trump turned up the heat on the European Union and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Mr. Trump rejected an EU offer to eliminate car tariffs if the United States does the same.
Mr. Trump also threatened to pull the United States out of the WTO, which he has previously criticised for being unfavorable’ to Washington in its resolution of trade disputes. “If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” he told Bloomberg News.
