Reading Time: < 1 minute Arlington, Va. | Reuters — U.S. negotiators at talks to renew the North American Free Trade Agreement on Friday formally asked Canada to address a bilateral dispute over dairy pricing, a request the Canadians are set to resist, sources familiar with the talks said. U.S. dairy producers are unhappy that Canadian farmers this year started […] Read more
U.S. makes NAFTA dairy proposal, no market access request
Japan to propose changes to beef import safeguards in talks with U.S.
Reading Time: 2 minutes Tokyo | Reuters — Japan will propose changes to its safeguard mechanism on frozen U.S. beef imports that will shorten review periods and allow importers to voluntarily lower import volumes to prevent tariffs from automatically kicking in, two government sources said on Thursday. The proposal will be made at the second round of the U.S.-Japan […] Read more
U.S. hikes NAFTA tension with call for ‘sunset clause’
Reading Time: 3 minutes Arlington, Va. | Reuters — Washington has dramatically increased tensions in talks to renew the North American Free Trade Agreement by proposing that the lifespan of any new deal be limited to five years, people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday. The proposal for a so-called sunset clause — just one of a series […] Read more
Trump says U.S.-Canada trade deal possible, excluding Mexico
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters –– U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be open to a bilateral trade pact with Canada if a deal cannot be reached with Mexico to substantially revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. Asked by a reporter if he could envision maintaining free trade with Canada if NAFTA talks […] Read more
Trudeau to tell Trump: We’re not your problem at NAFTA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets President Donald Trump on Wednesday, he will try to persuade the U.S. leader to focus on Mexico as a source of potential problems at talks to update NAFTA. Although Trudeau officials were confident Trump would mostly target Mexico as the three nations started to […] Read more
Top U.S. NAFTA negotiator sees no problem with pace of talks
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — The top U.S. negotiator at talks to modernize the NAFTA trade pact on Monday dismissed questions about why his team had so far failed to produce specific proposals on key issues, saying “I don’t see a problem.” Officials from the U.S., Mexico and Canada are in Ottawa for the third of […] Read more
U.S. wants NAFTA five-year sunset provision
Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday that the United States was seeking to add a five-year sunset provision to the North American Free Trade Agreement to provide a regular, “systematic re-examination” of the trade pact. Ross told a forum hosted by Politico that both he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert […] Read more
Sharp differences over labour surface at NAFTA trade talks
Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Tensions over sharp differences in pay between Mexican workers and their Canadian and U.S. counterparts surfaced on Sunday as negotiators discussed labour market rules in talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada’s biggest private-sector union said NAFTA should be scrapped if Mexico cannot agree to better labour […] Read more
Mexico, Canada dismiss Trump threats to scrap NAFTA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City/Ottawa | Reuters — Mexico and Canada on Wednesday dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to scrap NAFTA, describing it as a negotiating tactic designed to gain an advantage during talks to update one of the world’s biggest trading blocs. In comments that initially pushed Mexico’s peso currency down by more than one per […] Read more
NAFTA negotiators hone in on origin rules, dispute settlement
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S., Canadian and Mexican negotiators on Friday began digging into some of the thorniest issues in modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, including rules of origin for goods produced in the region, services trade and a controversial dispute settlement system. A copy of the NAFTA negotiating agenda obtained by Reuters […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
