U.S. and Canada Reach Trade Deal to Keep Nafta Trilateral

 

• Parties plan to publish trilateral text by midnight deadline
• U.S. business, lawmakers urged U.S. to keep Canada in pact

The U.S. and Canada have agreed on a trade deal that would save the North American Free Trade Agreement as a trilateral bloc, according to three people familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump has approved the developments and the expectation is that an agreement will be announced on Sunday night, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian officials are working on the final touches.

U.S. and Canadian negotiators have been negotiating around the clock this weekend to make a Sunday midnight deadline that would allow the countries to sign the deal as the final act before Mexico’s outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto leaves office at the end of November.

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Trump has said he wants to rename the deal the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement.

Smoother Path

Some people familiar with the talks credited Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner for helping smooth the path toward a deal. When it looked like negotiations had stalled or broken down due to friction between the U.S. and Canadian sides, Kushner kept talks going with aides close to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, including Gerald Butts and Katie Telford, three people said.

Full article: U.S. and Canada Reach Trade Deal to Keep Nafta Trilateral (Bloomberg)