Ottawa will introduce legislation to ratify Canada’s new trade agreement with the United States and Mexico as soon as next week, according to a senior Canadian government official.

Plans are under way inside the government to introduce the bill as soon as possible following the United States’ decision last week to drop tariffs on steel and aluminum, which had been a major irritant for Canada and Mexico...

Alex Lawrence, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, said no final decision has been made on when the bill will be introduced, but that last week’s tariff decision means the government can now move ahead with legislation...

U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence will visit Ottawa next Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The United States has said the focus of the May 30 visit is to push for the “swift adoption” of USMCA...

This was excerpted from 22 May 2019 edition of The Globe and Mail.