U.S.-Canada NAFTA Talks Stall Again

Top-level negotiators have again failed to reach accord about including Canada in an updated North American Free Trade Agreement.

Staff-level envoys will continue the bargaining. But another meeting between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland appears unlikely until at least the middle of next week.

Freeland is back in Canada today for a meeting with foreign ministers, according to Bloomberg News. It says she also will be in New York City on Monday for the opening week of the United Nations General Assembly.

The U.S. and Mexico have already come to a tentative deal on updating NAFTA. But Congress indicates it may reject any replacement for the 24-year-old agreement that doesn’t include Canada.

Negotiators would prefer to finalize a three-way deal by Sept. 30. That would give Congress enough time to approve it before Mexico’s current president leaves office on Nov. 30.

Bloomberg points out that talks could simply continue, although it isn’t clear whether incoming Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will back the pact. President Donald Trump has warned he might walk away from NAFTA entirely, then push for approval of a bilateral deal with Mexico and impose tariffs on Canadian-made cars.