Racing to NAFTA resolution

Aug 29, 2018

Bilateral talks between Canada and the U.S. scheduled for today

By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Officials from Canada and the United States will meet today in Washington, D.C. to continue talks and work to settle the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Mexico and the U.S. agreed on a bilateral deal on Monday and now Canada returns to the table to continue negotiations, a Reuters release said today.

The 24-year-old agreement accounted for over $1 trillion in trade each year between the three parties.

“NAFTA has been beneficial for farmers and agriculture in all three countries,” Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada, said to Farms.com today.

“The free flow of products across borders is really important for the future prosperity of our country.”

Today, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, will learn about the terms that the U.S. and Mexico agreed on over the past two months, the release said.

“The fact that agreement on those difficult issues for Mexico was able to be reached definitely clears the way for us to have significant, substantive and – I hope – productive conversations with the U.S. this week,” Freeland said after a meeting with Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, the release stated.

Canada has explained its priorities and key issues throughout NAFTA discussions, Freeland said.

Donald Trump, U.S. President, threatens that he could advance the deal with Mexico and impose duties on Canada if it does not agree with the revised terms, the release said.

Canada and the U.S. still have to agree on a few points, the release outlined, such as:

removing the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism, which prevents the U.S. from pursuing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases (Mexico agreed to scrap Chapter 19 on Monday)
intellectual property rights
extending copyright protections from 50 to 75 years

These sticking points could impact Canadian producers.

“All of the big files – things like dispute resolution, the sunset clause, some of the big issues that are on the table – these are all very important to Canadian agriculture,” Dahl said.

“We are watching with a very keen interest. We are in touch with our negotiating team and are working with other export-oriented agriculture (commodity groups) to help ensure that we do move forward in a positive way.”

The deadline for the countries to reach an in-principle deal is Friday, but officials are optimistic.

“I think that what (U.S. officials) probably need by Friday is some indication from Canada … that it’s ready to play ball, (and is) ready to negotiate in good faith,” Mark Warner, a trade lawyer with MAWW Law, said in the release.

Previous Farms.com coverage on NAFTA can be found here.

Ronnie Chua/ iStock/Getty Images Plus photo

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