WASHINGTON – Canadian and American negotiators resume their talks today on updating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The talks continue after Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland’s late night, 20-minute meeting with her U.S. counterpart, trade czar Robert Lighthizer on Thursday.
Freeland called that meeting constructive along with the earlier two-hour session with Lighthizer at his office near the White House.
Freeland offered few details, sticking to her mantra of not wanting to negotiate in public — an agreement struck with Lighthizer as an act of good faith.
The two sides still have to resolve differences on three key issues: dairy, culture and the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism.
Canada and the U.S. are trying to agree on a text that could be submitted to the U.S. Congress by month’s end in order to join the deal the Trump administration signed with Mexico last week.