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NAFTA Talks in Limbo

Canada and the U.S. have agreed to resume talks about revising the North American Free Trade Agreement, but they haven’t decided when to do so.
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Canada and the U.S. have agreed to resume talks about revising the North American Free Trade Agreement, but they haven’t decided when to do so.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland tells reporters both countries and Mexico agree that meaningful progress has been made since the NAFTA discussions began last August, Reuters reports. She also declares that negotiators will “be working hard over the summer” after envoys decide when to resume meetings.

Trade emissaries initially hoped to have a revised pact completed by the end of last year. That deadline was extended several times in hopes of finalizing a deal and getting it approved before Mexico chooses a new president on July 1 and the U.S. holds congressional elections on Nov. 6. The deadline for those goals has passed.

The talks are bogged down over local content formulas, the price of labor and whether a revised NAFTA will include an automatic “sunset” provision. Last month President Donald Trump also floated the idea of replacing the current three-way pact with an array of bilateral trade agreements.

 

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