NAFTA talks wind down in Ottawa with little movement on big files
The bell is about to ring marking the end of round three of the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations, but so far there’s little to suggest that either the U.S., Mexico or Canada have landed a knockout punch on any of the deal’s more contentious issues.
- Trudeau to visit Mexico, U.S. amid contentious NAFTA talks
- Freeland to stress cultural protections at NAFTA dinner
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and her counterparts, U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Mexican Economy Minister ldefonso Guajardo, will hold meetings today before this series of negotiations, and the first one on Canadian soil so far, comes to an end.
Despite the year-end deadline to finish the massive continental deal, Canada’s chief negotiator has said he doesn’t expect progress on the deal’s more controversial areas, including Canada’s maligned dairy and poultry supply-management systems, reports that the United States wants more American content in North American-made vehicles and the dispute settlement process.
While Canada has pitched modernized chapter on gender, the environment and Indigenous rights, multiple sources have told CBC News that the U.S. has been slow to present specific details of changes it would like to see in NAFTA.
The Liberal government says it has also been calling for progressive and enforceable labour standards in the rewritten NAFTA, including an end to corporate unions dominated or otherwise influenced by employers, which keep wages low by essentially dictating the terms in a collective agreement.
David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., said discussions are unfolding “pretty much as we expected,” but at times talks have been “a little more than heated.”
Trade war brewing over Bombardier duties
Complicating matters is the U.S. Department of Commerce’s ruling Tuesday against Montreal-based aerospace company Bombardier. The hefty 220 per cent countervailing duty on the sale of Bombardier’s CS100 commercial jets comes at a time when the Canadian government is considering buying fighter jets from its American rival Boeing, which launched the trade complaint.
Quebec Premier Phillippe Couillard said he is urging Ottawa to take a very “hard line” with Boeing over the Super Hornet deal — and any others.
“Not a bolt, not a part, not a plane from Boeing [should be] entering Canada until this conflict is resolved in a satisfactory way,” he said.
In the lead-up to Tueday’s decision, the Liberal government had threatened to cancel its planned sole-source purchase of Boeing Super Hornet jet fighters
“Obviously we are disappointed by the decision and I will continue to fight hard for good Canadian jobs,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday.
Freeland, Lighthizer and Guajardo will present a joint statement at 2:30 p.m. ET marking the end of the third of seven negotiating rounds.
With the deadline approaching and talks heating up, Trudeau is heading to Mexico and the United States next month.
A government source said that although trade is always top of mind for Trudeau, it will not be the sole focus of his trip.
Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nafta-third-round-negociations-end-1.4308983?cmp=rss