Canadian negotiators at the NAFTA talks will unveil on Wednesday ideas to address U.S. demands for higher North American content in autos, a contentious issue that is threatening the effort to modernize the 1994 trade deal, three well-placed sources said.
The sixth and penultimate round of negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement opened in Montreal on Tuesday as time runs out for Canada and Mexico to settle big differences with the United States.
With financial markets skittish about the possible collapse of a $1.2 trillion global trading bloc, Canada and Mexico say they are prepared to be flexible on U.S. proposals they had initially rejected as unworkable.
At a meeting of chief negotiators on Wednesday, Canada’s Steve Verheul will suggest ways to accommodate Washington’s insistence that auto content in North American vehicles be lifted, said a source with knowledge of the talks.
This was excerpted from the 24 January 2018 edition of Reuters Canada.