If it’s Monday, it must be Canada for trade officials who are in their third round of talks less than six weeks after NAFTA negotiations began on Aug. 16 with hopes of an agreement before the end of the year. The CBC, quoting an unnamed source close to negotiations, says the U.S. team is lagging when it comes to putting its ideas into writing so there can be detailed discussions.
Canada’s chief negotiator said the United States was not expected to put forward a proposal on dairy trade during the meeting in Ottawa, reported iPolitics. Canada’s supply management system for dairy is a regular target for U.S. criticism but the United States has yet to make a formal request on the issue, said negotiator Steve Verheul. U.S. farm groups want to maintain the duty-free trade status granted in the 1994 free trade agreement and repeat the refrain of “do no harm” to agriculture.
Ahead of the meeting in Ottawa, Canadian officials reportedly expected the U.S. tone would become more aggressive, to match President Trump’s repeated recent suggestions that the United States will withdraw from the tri-national agreement if it doesn’t get its way. A Canadian government official told the CBC that progress is being made in areas such as digital trade and telecom rules while more controversial issues are yet to be discussed.
Because of short notice of the dates for the third round of negotiations, the Canadian government improvised somewhat over the weekend, said the National Post. The trade teams were transported in yellow school buses and they were served boxed lunches. Negotiators are meeting in Ottawa’s old city hall, which has a scenic setting at the confluence of the Ottawa and Rideau rivers, but there are no hotels or restaurants nearby. “In what may be a subtle reminder to the Americans that Canada has other trade options,” a large banner in the building extols the Canada-EU free trade agreement that took effect this month.