(MDurson/iStock/Getty Images)

EU says ready to launch U.S. trade talks, but without agriculture

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union is ready to start talks on a trade agreement with the United States and aims to conclude a deal before year-end, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Monday. The EU approved two areas for negotiation, opposed by France with an abstention from Belgium. But agriculture was not […] Read more


U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive at the Governors’ Ball in the State Dining Room of the White House on Feb. 24, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Al Drago)

Trump delays tariff hike on Chinese goods, citing trade talk progress

Reading Time: 4 minutes Washington | Reuters — President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would delay an increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods thanks to “productive” trade talks and that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would meet to seal a deal if progress continued. The announcement was the clearest sign yet that China and the U.S. […] Read more

Chickpeas in India. (Nikhil Patil/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada, U.S. to challenge India’s pulse price supports

Reading Time: < 1 minute Canada and the U.S. are set to challenge India’s market price supports for certain pulses including chickpeas and lentils. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Friday announced that “together with Canada” they’ve submitted a “counter notification” on the matter to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Agriculture (COA). […] Read more



Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador looks on while listening to relatives of missing persons in Mexico City on Sept. 14, 2018. (File photo: Reuters/Violeta Schmidt)

Mexican president-elect insists on trilateral NAFTA

Reading Time: 4 minutes Washington/Mexico City | Reuters — The United States and Mexico are due to release the text of their trade agreement on Friday, increasing pressure on Canada to join its partners in revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement while Mexico’s president-elect said he would insist on a trilateral pact. President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said […] Read more


A view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada sticks to plan to stay at NAFTA talks despite Trump attack

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada on Thursday shrugged off U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism that talks to modernize NAFTA were moving too slowly and made clear it had to keep negotiating as long as there was a chance of success. The prospects for a quick deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement appeared […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a news conference during the General Assembly of the United Nations in Manhattan on Sept. 26, 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Amr Alfiky)

Trump slams Canada over NAFTA, says rejected Trudeau meeting

Reading Time: 3 minutes United Nations | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted Canada over the slow pace of talks over NAFTA, saying he was so unhappy that he had rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request for a one-on-one meeting. The remarks by Trump, who repeated a threat to impose tariffs on Canadian autos, knocked […] Read more


U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer testifies at a Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington on July 26, 2018 on proposed budget estimates for the Office of the USTR. (Photo: Reuters/Mary F. Calvert)

Canada not making concessions needed for NAFTA deal, says U.S.

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Canada is not making concessions needed to reach a deal with the U.S. for a trilateral NAFTA pact and is running out of time before Washington proceeds with a Mexico-only agreement, a top U.S. official said on Tuesday. The administration of President Donald Trump has recently begun increasing the pressure […] Read more