Canada’s negotiating team in Washington is returning to the bargaining table to resume talks with their U.S. counterparts, hoping for a breakthrough to reach a deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said she is looking over the work that officials from both countries did during a long night of talks to move the needle on negotiations.

Canadian negotiators spent the morning huddled in the Canadian Embassy to discuss the outcomes of last night’s lengthy conversations with their assessment setting the stage for this afternoon’s face-to-face meeting between Freeland and her American counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, sources said on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The two lead ministers on NAFTA held lengthy meetings in Washington on Wednesday...

Freeland told reporters at the close of her Wednesday meeting with Lighthizer that she couldn’t predict when the two sides would come to an agreement, saying nothing is settled until everything is settled.

On Thursday afternoon, Freeland described the atmosphere as “constructive” and “positive.”..

This is excerpted from 6 September 2018 edition of The Globe and Mail.