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| U.S. and Canada Scramble to Reach Nafta Deal as Deadline Looms | U.S. and Canada Scramble to Reach Nafta Deal as Deadline Looms |
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| WASHINGTON — A top Trump administration official said on Sunday that the United States and Canada continued to face differences as negotiators scrambled to reach a deal on a trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement ahead of a midnight deadline. | WASHINGTON — A top Trump administration official said on Sunday that the United States and Canada continued to face differences as negotiators scrambled to reach a deal on a trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement ahead of a midnight deadline. |
| Peter Navarro, one of President Trump’s senior trade advisers, said that the United States and Canada were still working through several obstacles, including the fate of a tariff dispute settlement system that the Trump administration wants to eliminate and Mr. Trump’s demands that Canada open access to its heavily protected dairy market. | Peter Navarro, one of President Trump’s senior trade advisers, said that the United States and Canada were still working through several obstacles, including the fate of a tariff dispute settlement system that the Trump administration wants to eliminate and Mr. Trump’s demands that Canada open access to its heavily protected dairy market. |
| “Everybody’s negotiating in good faith right now as we speak and the deadline is midnight tonight to get the text in to Congress in order to make sure this goes forward,” Mr. Navarro said in an interview with Fox News. “So it’s either going to be the text in with Mexico and the U.S. or the text goes in with all three countries.” | “Everybody’s negotiating in good faith right now as we speak and the deadline is midnight tonight to get the text in to Congress in order to make sure this goes forward,” Mr. Navarro said in an interview with Fox News. “So it’s either going to be the text in with Mexico and the U.S. or the text goes in with all three countries.” |
| Mr. Navarro said that there were “several” sticking points that remain. | Mr. Navarro said that there were “several” sticking points that remain. |
| Industry lobbyists who have been briefed on the negotiations said that one of the biggest obstacles is Canada’s desire to have Mr. Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs lifted as part of a new Nafta agreement and to receive assurances that Canada will not face new tariffs on automobiles, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened. In exchange, Canada has expressed openness to offering concessions on access to its dairy market that are more generous than what it offered in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement that Mr. Trump withdrew from upon taking office last year. | Industry lobbyists who have been briefed on the negotiations said that one of the biggest obstacles is Canada’s desire to have Mr. Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs lifted as part of a new Nafta agreement and to receive assurances that Canada will not face new tariffs on automobiles, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened. In exchange, Canada has expressed openness to offering concessions on access to its dairy market that are more generous than what it offered in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement that Mr. Trump withdrew from upon taking office last year. |
| Canadian and American officials declined to comment on the talks. A Mexican official said that all parties were working “intensely” through the day. | Canadian and American officials declined to comment on the talks. A Mexican official said that all parties were working “intensely” through the day. |
| While Canada had played down the end-of-the-month deadline, the talks were restarted in earnest this weekend as the United States and Mexico signaled they would release text of their bilateral trade agreement as early as Friday. Mexico wants a deal signed before Dec. 1, when the new Mexican administration takes over and the Trump administration wants the current, Republican-controlled Congress to vote on the deal quickly, given a potential change in control after the November midterm elections. | While Canada had played down the end-of-the-month deadline, the talks were restarted in earnest this weekend as the United States and Mexico signaled they would release text of their bilateral trade agreement as early as Friday. Mexico wants a deal signed before Dec. 1, when the new Mexican administration takes over and the Trump administration wants the current, Republican-controlled Congress to vote on the deal quickly, given a potential change in control after the November midterm elections. |
| With the timeline shrinking, Canada’s leadership redoubled its efforts to find common ground. Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian foreign minister and its top trade negotiator, canceled plans to give a speech at the United Nations in New York on Saturday and hunkered down in Ottawa to help steer the negotiations. On Friday night, Ms. Freeland and her team held a conference call with Robert E. Lighthizer, the United States trade representative, and other American negotiators, according to a person familiar with the talks. | With the timeline shrinking, Canada’s leadership redoubled its efforts to find common ground. Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian foreign minister and its top trade negotiator, canceled plans to give a speech at the United Nations in New York on Saturday and hunkered down in Ottawa to help steer the negotiations. On Friday night, Ms. Freeland and her team held a conference call with Robert E. Lighthizer, the United States trade representative, and other American negotiators, according to a person familiar with the talks. |
| Discussions between the United States and Canada had stalled amid souring relations between Mr. Trump and Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister. Mr. Trump lashed out at Canada last week during the United Nations General Assembly meeting for mistreating the United States on trade and said he had rejected a meeting with Mr. Trudeau because of Canada’s high tariffs. That followed a testy meeting in June, when Mr. Trump accused Mr. Trudeau of being “dishonest,” and a threat last week to tax Canada’s auto exports into the United States if it did not agree to America’s demands. | Discussions between the United States and Canada had stalled amid souring relations between Mr. Trump and Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister. Mr. Trump lashed out at Canada last week during the United Nations General Assembly meeting for mistreating the United States on trade and said he had rejected a meeting with Mr. Trudeau because of Canada’s high tariffs. That followed a testy meeting in June, when Mr. Trump accused Mr. Trudeau of being “dishonest,” and a threat last week to tax Canada’s auto exports into the United States if it did not agree to America’s demands. |
| With relations worsening and the fate of the pact up in the air, Mr. Trudeau reached out to Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president-elect, to intervene with the United States. Mr. López Obrador said he preferred that Nafta remain a three-country trade treaty and said he would not look to reopen negotiations with the United States once he takes office on Dec. 1. | |
| Luis Videgaray Caso, Mexico’s foreign minister, was also working with the United States and Canada on Friday to bring the two countries closer together, according to a Mexican official. | Luis Videgaray Caso, Mexico’s foreign minister, was also working with the United States and Canada on Friday to bring the two countries closer together, according to a Mexican official. |
| Mr. Trudeau has been directly involved in the trade negotiations and also spent time over the weekend seeking advice from executives of big Canadian banks. | Mr. Trudeau has been directly involved in the trade negotiations and also spent time over the weekend seeking advice from executives of big Canadian banks. |
| The United States and Mexico were expected to release the text of their agreement on Friday night but delayed doing so as talks with Canada gathered pace. | The United States and Mexico were expected to release the text of their agreement on Friday night but delayed doing so as talks with Canada gathered pace. |
| The revised Nafta has a far greater chance of being ratified by Congress if Canada is included. But its fate is still uncertain since Democrats could take control of the House or the Senate in the midterm elections in November and attempt to call for changes to the agreement. | The revised Nafta has a far greater chance of being ratified by Congress if Canada is included. But its fate is still uncertain since Democrats could take control of the House or the Senate in the midterm elections in November and attempt to call for changes to the agreement. |
| Lawmakers have said that they do not expect Congress to vote on the deal until early next year. | Lawmakers have said that they do not expect Congress to vote on the deal until early next year. |