[CTC] U.S. trade czar contradicts Trudeau, says NAFTA deal 'nowhere close'

[Arthur Stamoulis]

two articles below…


http://montrealgazette.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/nafta-negotiators-chart-path-ahead-for-talks-as-deadline-arrives/wcm/0e976763-8beb-45ea-bcf3-d54aec853a67?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1526597418 <http://montrealgazette.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/nafta-negotiators-chart-path-ahead-for-talks-as-deadline-arrives/wcm/0e976763-8beb-45ea-bcf3-d54aec853a67?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1526597418>
 
U.S. trade czar contradicts Trudeau, says NAFTA deal 'nowhere close'

WASHINGTON — The United States says the NAFTA countries are nowhere close to a deal, apparently dousing expectations that an agreement might be just a few minor adjustments away.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, and several high-ranking staffers were in the U.S. on Thursday urging a quick deal before the American statement landed.

The statement from U.S. trade czar Robert Lighthizer says there are gaping differences on intellectual property, agriculture, online purchases, energy, labour, rules of origin, and much more.

“The NAFTA countries are nowhere near close to a deal,” said Lighthizer.

“There are gaping differences … We of course will continue to engage in negotiations, and I look forward to working with my counterparts to secure the best possible deal for American farmers, ranchers, workers, and businesses.”

The reason Canada, Mexico and some in the U.S. want a deal soon has to do with certainty — with establishing business certainty and with settling the process before elections in Mexico and the U.S. push everything into next year.

Some fear that delaying the process into next year will add a new layer of unpredictability as many of the politicians involved now will no longer be in politics. Mexico will have a new administration, the U.S. will have a new Congress after midterm elections and several senior U.S. lawmakers are retiring.

 


https://www.baytoday.ca/national-news/nafta-canada-presses-for-quick-deal-despite-lapsed-target-date-927186 <https://www.baytoday.ca/national-news/nafta-canada-presses-for-quick-deal-despite-lapsed-target-date-927186>
 
NAFTA: Canada presses for quick deal, despite lapsed target date
WASHINGTON — Canada launched a multi-front push for a quick NAFTA deal Thursday, vowing to keep working despite a failure to complete negotiations in time to meet a politically significant target date.
WASHINGTON — Canada launched a multi-front push for a quick NAFTA deal Thursday, vowing to keep working despite a failure to complete negotiations in time to meet a politically significant target date.

In meetings in Washington and New York, at the White House and in other government buildings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, and several top government officials kept pursuing a conclusion.

They urged their American colleagues to plow ahead even if it's potentially too late after this week to meet the procedural deadlines for a vote on a deal under the current U.S. Congress this year.

"We'll keep working until they shut off the lights," Trudeau told reporters in New York.

"We are close to a deal."

The Canadian government's view is that the agreement already on the table might not satisfy all American demands but would make a real difference in the crucial auto industry, and upgrade numerous other chapters.

Trudeau admitted to being unsure whether a deal will take days, weeks, or be put off indefinitely.

But a public rift with Mexico illustrated the complexity of the talks. The Mexican government scolded the prime minister over one element of the sales pitch he delivered in New York: Trudeau argued that the autos changes would send some Mexican jobs back to the U.S.

In the midst of a presidential election campaign in that country, and facing its own political pressures at home, the Mexican government publicly challenged Canada's prime minister. 

"A clarification is necessary," Mexico's economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, tweeted. 

"Any renegotiated NAFTA that implies losses of existing Mexican jobs is unacceptable."

The pressure mounted this week.

Any failure to get a deal immediately would make it impossible to vote on a deal this year in the U.S. Congress, meaning more business and political uncertainty, as many current politicians in Mexico and the U.S. will no longer be in office next year.

Top U.S. lawmaker Paul Ryan had declared Thursday as the last date for meeting the procedural deadlines for a vote this year. On Thursday, he revised that slightly.

Ryan clarified that if the independent body in the U.S. tasked with analysing trade deals managed to assess the new NAFTA faster than legally required, then in theory an agreement could still get to the floor for a vote in this Congress.

In New York, Trudeau made his case during a public event on the Fox Business channel and in a private meeting with an economic adviser to President Donald Trump.

In Washington, senior Canadian staff held meetings at the White House on Thursday morning, and Freeland was flying into town for other meetings later in the day.

"We will do an assessment of where are we and is there a chance of pulling all this together in a fairly rapid fashion or not?" said Canadian ambassador to Washington David MacNaughton.

"We're pretty close," he said. "There are still some tough issues to deal with, but do you really want to kick this down the road and miss the opportunity to ... pull all that good work that's been done together and get something formally done?"

He made an argument similar to Trudeau: that the autos changes alone would deliver a major win for the U.S. MacNaughton noted that Trump's stated objective in these talks was to reduce his country's trade deficit.

"Eighty per cent of that deficit has to do with autos. We're that close on autos," he said, illustrating with a thumb and index finger held close together.

"If you want to get this over the finish line, we're a long way towards getting it there. So let's wrap it up and get it done."

Alexander Panetta, The Canadian Press
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