Trump, Trudeau upbeat about prospects for NAFTA deal by Friday

[webfact]

Trump, Trudeau upbeat about prospects for NAFTA deal by Friday

By Julie Gordon and Sharay Angulo

 

Flags of the U.S., Canada and Mexico fly next to each other in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. August 29, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leaders of the United States and Canada expressed optimism on Wednesday that NAFTA negotiations could meet a Friday deadline for a deal, although Canada warned that hard work on a number of tricky issues was still needed.

 

Canada rejoined the talks to modernize the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement after Mexico and the United States announced a bilateral trade deal on Monday.

 

"They (Canada) want to be part of the deal, and we gave until Friday and I think we're probably on track. We'll see what happens, but in any event, things are working out very well." U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House.

 

The upbeat tone contrasted with Trump's harsh criticism of Canada in recent weeks, railing on Twitter against Canada's high dairy tariffs that he said were "killing our Agriculture!"

 

Trudeau said he thought the Friday deadline could be met.

 

"We recognize that there is a possibility of getting there by Friday, but it is only a possibility, because it will hinge on whether or not there is ultimately a good deal for Canada," he said at a news conference in northern Ontario on Wednesday. "No NAFTA deal is better than a bad NAFTA deal."

 

Trump has set a Friday deadline for the three countries to reach an in-principle agreement, which would allow Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to sign it before he leaves office at the end of November. Under U.S. law, Trump must wait 90 days before signing the pact.

 

Trump has warned he could try to proceed with a deal with Mexico alone and levy tariffs on Canada if it does not come on board, although U.S. lawmakers have said ratifying a bilateral deal would not be easy.

 

Canadian Foreign Minister and lead negotiator Chrystia Freeland said she was encouraged by the talks and progress so far, but added: "When it comes to specific issues, we have a huge amount of work to do."

 

She declined to name the specific issues, but said on Tuesday that Mexico's concessions on auto rules of origin and labor rights was a breakthrough.

 

Ottawa is also ready to make concessions on Canada's protected dairy market in a bid to save a dispute-settlement system, The Globe and Mail reported late on Tuesday.

 

After being sidelined from the talks for more than two months, Freeland will be under pressure to accept terms the United States and Mexico worked out.

 

STICKING POINTS

One of the issues for Canada in the revised deal is the U.S. effort to dump the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism that hinders the United States from pursuing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Monday that Mexico had agreed to eliminate the mechanism.

 

To save that mechanism, Ottawa plans to change one rule that effectively blocked American farmers from exporting ultrafiltered milk, an ingredient in cheesemaking, to Canada, the Globe and Mail reported, citing sources.

 

Trudeau repeated on Wednesday that he will defend Canada's dairy industry.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, the Trump administration's own anti-dumping duties on Canadian paper, used in books and newsprint, were thrown out by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

 

The independent panel ruled that about $1.21 billion in such paper imports from Canada were not harming U.S. producers.

 

Other hurdles to a NAFTA deal include intellectual property rights and extensions of copyright protections to 75 years from 50, a higher threshold than Canada has previously supported.

 

Some see the tight time-frame as a challenge.

 

"There's nothing here that is not doable for Canada," said Brian Kingston, vice president for international affairs at The Business Council of Canada.

 

"We've got the best negotiators in the world, but they can only stay awake so many hours of every day."

 

(Reporting by Julie Gordon and Sharay Angulo; Additional reporting by Susan Harvey, Donia Chiacu, David Lawder, Makini Brice and Jeff Mason; Allison Martell and Anna Mehler Paperny in TORONTO; Writing by Denny Thomas and David Lawder; Editing by Susan Thomas and Rosalba O'Brien)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-30

[pegman]

Canadians have had it with Trump. He can shove that NAFTA where the sun don't shine. The Yanks have made a fortune off our raw resources but we had a good chunk of auto manufacturing so no complaints. NAFTA killed that. GM has gone from >20,000 hourly wage jobs in Oshawa in the 90's to 3,500 today. Most of those jobs are now in Mexico. Even his own US International Trade Commision voted 5-0 against him in the newsprint tariff decision. These aren't honest people to deal with. We have the new TPP and EU trade agreements in place now. With those and our trade with China we will be fine without those back stabbers trying to constantly screw us anymore.

[Tug]

Watch you back Canada praying for a good agreement to both sides take great care valued respect and loved northern neighbor don’t trust that jackass trump

[Srikcir]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

"They (Canada) want to be part of the deal

That's funny but also painfully sad as Trump still doesn't understand the Trade Agreement.

NAFTA changes cannot be concluded without concurrence of all three nation participants.

[PhonThong]

5 hours ago, pegman said:

Canadians have had it with Trump. He can shove that NAFTA where the sun don't shine. The Yanks have made a fortune off our raw resources but we had a good chunk of auto manufacturing so no complaints. NAFTA killed that. GM has gone from >20,000 hourly wage jobs in Oshawa in the 90's to 3,500 today. Most of those jobs are now in Mexico. Even his own US International Trade Commision voted 5-0 against him in the newsprint tariff decision. These aren't honest people to deal with. We have the new TPP and EU trade agreements in place now. With those and our trade with China we will be fine without those back stabbers trying to constantly screw us anymore.

Have fun with China. We won't miss you. Oh yeah. Refine your own oil too. I know as a fact, the Irving refinery can't handle it.

[Credo]

10 hours ago, PhonThong said:

Have fun with China. We won't miss you. Oh yeah. Refine your own oil too. I know as a fact, the Irving refinery can't handle it.

Refineries can be more easily built than friendships.   We may not need Canada, but life without them and their resources is going to be much, much more difficult.   

 

[PhonThong]

14 hours ago, Credo said:

Refineries can be more easily built than friendships.   We may not need Canada, but life without them and their resources is going to be much, much more difficult.   

 

What resources? They need the U.S. more than the U.S. needs them. If they are going to whine everytime they don't like what the U.S. doing, then I say good riddance.

[Skeptic7]

Gotta give credit where credit is due. Despise Trump, but he's gonna win BIG on the trade issues and so is the USA. USA has WAY more leverage than Canada & Mexico combined. They NEED the USA, but the opposite is not true. 

 

China gonna be set straight TOO and the playing field made even. Trump said it's easy to win a Trade War and it appears he actually had a clue on this. He's sticking with his America First motto and it's working well, especially since the cards are well stacked in USA's favor. 

[candide]

52 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Gotta give credit where credit is due. Despise Trump, but he's gonna win BIG on the trade issues and so is the USA. USA has WAY more leverage than Canada & Mexico combined. They NEED the USA, but the opposite is not true. 

 

China gonna be set straight TOO and the playing field made even. Trump said it's easy to win a Trade War and it appears he actually had a clue on this. He's sticking with his America First motto and it's working well, especially since the cards are well stacked in USA's favor. 

It's true that the USA have a strong negotiating power. However it should be reminded that Trump's main motivation is internal politics. He needs to look good before the next elections in November by striking a deal. From this perspective the balance of power looks different. Only Trump needs to strike a deal before November.

We haven't seen the full deal proposal with Mexico, but what has been presented recently a a great achivement were very minor improvements. It suggests the Mexican were not without negotiating power either.