[CTC] Good News: Canada Endgame Engagement and Optimism

[Dolan, Mike]

Canada's Freeland Upbeat on Nafta Talks, Wants Quick Conclusion
Bloomberg
By Doug Alexander and Chris Fournier
August 4, 2018
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-04/canada-s-freeland-upbeat-on-nafta-talks-wants-quick-conclusion<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001LpuLNkl4sBdeN-E5Yvmmg3R1U-7sYalrCnbniDxzbtInctO3smYQ1a_khH8U7GDtwv8UFcQuLzy_G1cpWz25oKY0NGJSZ31dPmfw2wjGVSyWgP-OHBIZz1STxT29ykbrU0CWwN-53cv-LEnzsnZzcZ91ckIikifwzKW_Cs5s09kL92P4a984kYhoQndKybJHWNOQP0gMUqOizYY1_l05b-_JOLUNpoXZxrXkqd-ZToL4hAhfH4A4K6rNf-IOvS8IRLNIwSCnTuebYl31SR0GPA==&c=2jyMfazWC_SdZj2Uw76shQIkjQ7qY32lBSFBUJXNP9-R3bK2OPL_MA==&ch=6qHTGWyWNaOAc2-plFMcBVZgRfuLqM7zU142ytV6wHUraqUd6XwnMg==>

Canada's foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland said she's ready to move forward quickly once the U.S. and Mexico reach an agreement on automobiles, and downplayed any notion that her country has been shut out of North American Free Trade Agreement talks.

"I and Canada are very, very keen to get it done as quickly as possible," Freeland told reporters Saturday during a conference call from Hong Kong, where she stopped en route from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Singapore.

"We're very, very supportive of moving forward fast, and we are in close touch with both our Mexican and U.S. counterparts," Freeland said.

Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, said in late July that an agreement in principal could be achieved this month, and he blamed Canada for not compromising in the same way the U.S. and Mexico had. Since then, negotiations have carried on mostly without Canada as Mexico and the U.S. focus on resolving bilateral issues, particularly regarding autos.

Freeland said Canada and the U.S. had already moved past some of the key auto issues around domestic content requirements and rules of origin before talks stalled in May, while the U.S. and Mexico still have work to do, although they were making good progress.

"That is the engine of this deal," she said, referring to the auto chapter. "It is fiendishly complicated, and that needs to get sorted out."

Freeland sidestepped questions about whether she or Canada's lead Nafta negotiator Steve Verheul would be in Washington in the coming week, saying instead that her country is ready to negotiate "anytime, anywhere," and that she looks forward to discussing the remaining issues with her U.S. and Mexican counterparts.

She reiterated that Nafta is "absolutely," a trilateral deal, and that modernizing the 24-year-old pact is a priority for Canada. The U.S. and Mexico are said to be close to a deal on rules for cars sold under Nafta.

****

Canada 'Very Keen' on Wrapping Up Year-Old NAFTA Talks
Reuters
By David Ljunggren
August 4, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-canada/canada-very-keen-on-wrapping-up-year-old-nafta-talks-idUSKBN1KP0K8<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001LpuLNkl4sBdeN-E5Yvmmg3R1U-7sYalrCnbniDxzbtInctO3smYQ1a_khH8U7GDtf8On9SdhH0bT8XzDclHoQfu7d4muXu8vGFkPAelWRQiKafnyLplFh1Rs2NYG-3nwMOwsi9PMUCDV3ttRex6xA1x-lwj2kIxMAg6uI0LkeETtbzhQZGUnxiGVrcLJ1Vj-kTGhWsFmQhzCLhr6LBpQmagwq19NUlvlpEGEoV6cnG0KmoLDqUjeP7HQlGZFMqOgigdv4Na4JqLBzJ98R_q0fA==&c=2jyMfazWC_SdZj2Uw76shQIkjQ7qY32lBSFBUJXNP9-R3bK2OPL_MA==&ch=6qHTGWyWNaOAc2-plFMcBVZgRfuLqM7zU142ytV6wHUraqUd6XwnMg==>

Canada is "very keen" on concluding negotiations to renew the North American Free Trade Agreement as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Saturday, amid signs of progress after months of delays.

Talks to modernize the 1994 trade pact started in August 2017 but have dragged on much longer than expected as Canada and Mexico pushed back against far-reaching U.S. demands for reform. President Donald Trump has said he will walk away from NAFTA unless major changes are made.

In a renewed push, Mexican and U.S. cabinet ministers held a series of meetings in Washington over the past week in a bid to work out their differences. One Mexican official expressed optimism that some kind of agreement could be reached by the end of the month.

"I and Canada are very, very keen to get it done as quickly as possible," Freeland told reporters on a conference call. She did not answer directly when asked whether the end of August was a realistic deadline.

Mexican and U.S. officials are due to meet again next week to work on contentious issues such as wages and rules governing how much North American produced content an automobile must contain to qualify for duty-free status.

Freeland said she was ready to join the talks at any time but did not give details. Canadian officials dismiss speculation that she is being sidelined.

"While this is a trilateral agreement ... there are also significant bilateral trading issues between each of the countries," said Freeland, adding that she welcomed bilateral talks between Canada's two NAFTA partners.

The Trump administration, which complains NAFTA caused hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs to move to plants in low-wage Mexico, wants Mexican workers to be paid more and is demanding more North American content in cars and light trucks produced in the NAFTA nations.

****

Mexico eyes NAFTA breakthrough next week, says Canada joining soon
Reuters
By Daphne Psaledakis, David Lawder
August 3, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta/mexico-eyes-nafta-breakthrough-next-week-says-canada-joining-soon-idUSKBN1KO1XL<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001LpuLNkl4sBdeN-E5Yvmmg3R1U-7sYalrCnbniDxzbtInctO3smYQ1a_khH8U7GDtdmCO72oeLUV0HHbwVZPDxeN2tCOtT5zm9ftWaxqJ5Bg8oF0W7abrtxGFLrAAFrL8t1_HkfIYQhHjWN9LZ3_n-_SBo-0fKPibERj2a08uxNCnV0GIw7KPp6O0kDDxqjUtY_77fS93D038F9P-DQ2TCQKJy01L5LsUqBM8QU8QAkYHykt9zZ9HnkHXd4ueglZ9khGqYWTdPOjpVs-LJjsgpRRFevIBX_x-&c=2jyMfazWC_SdZj2Uw76shQIkjQ7qY32lBSFBUJXNP9-R3bK2OPL_MA==&ch=6qHTGWyWNaOAc2-plFMcBVZgRfuLqM7zU142ytV6wHUraqUd6XwnMg==>

Mexico's economy minister said on Friday that Mexico and the United States could overcome key stumbling blocks standing in the way of a new NAFTA deal next week, adding that Canada would likely soon rejoin the negotiations.

Mexican and U.S. teams will work through the weekend to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the ministers will return to the table late next week, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters after meetings with U.S. officials in Washington.

Mexico and the United States resumed talks last week, after a U.S. move to slap tariffs on Mexican and Canadian metal exports and Mexico's July elections stalled negotiations that began last year when President Donald Trump demanded a better deal for U.S. workers.

"Technically, we are ready to move into finishing the issues, Mexico-U.S. issues, the most next week. There are very good probabilities that we'll be landing solutions," Guajardo said in English.

"We are optimistic that we can try to land a deal before the end of August," adding there were "three critical, specific points" to resolve that he declined to specify.

Another senior Mexican negotiator was a little less bullish about the chances of a deal this month.

"I am cautiously optimistic. I think it can be done, but there can also be problems. We have to see," Jesus Seade, who joined the Mexican negotiating team last week representing President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Canada has not been at the table in rounds of talks over the past weeks. Some experts say this is a sign of tensions between Canada and the United States, while officials insist trilateral talks will soon resume.

Guajardo said top U.S. and Mexican officials could meet again on Wednesday or Thursday.

Rules for the auto sector, including a U.S. demand for higher wages in Mexico, as well as a U.S.-proposed sunset clause that would kill the deal if it is not renegotiated every five years, have been major stumbling block to talks.

Seade said the issue of the sunset clause could be broached next week. "It is something we have to discuss and the time has come," he said. "We have said that is not something we can work with."

Guajardo said neither the sunset clause nor wages were being discussed between Mexico and the United States on Friday.





Michael F. Dolan, J.D.
Legislative Representative
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Desk  202.624.6891
Fax    202.624.8973
Cell    202.437.2254

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