U.S.-Canada trade talks are poised to come to a head this week, as negotiators bear down on their next deadline amid President Donald Trump’s threats to cut his largest export market out of the deal.
High-level negotiations are expected to resume this week in a bid to reach a deal for Canada to remain in the three-nation North American Free Trade Agreement, a Canadian government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Congress is pressing for Canada to be kept in NAFTA, after the U.S. and Mexico struck their own deal last month.
Time is running out to reach an accord that can be signed before Mexico’s president-elect takes office. There are no high-level talks scheduled Monday, and the middle of this week — probably Thursday — is considered the next deadline to reach a handshake deal that could be converted into legal text by the end of this month, the official said.
The Trump administration — facing a fight with China, falling approval ratings and upcoming midterm elections, among other issues — has begun to show more flexibility and the progress of talks picked up last week, two officials familiar with negotiations said. Whether it will be enough is the major question...
This was excerpted from the 17 September 2018 edition of the Financial Post.