NAFTA talks likely to continue on sidelines of UN meeting: Trudeau

Young journalists club

News ID: 29195
Publish Date: 11:17 - 24 September 2018
TEHRAN, September 24 - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday it was "very likely" that informal talks aimed at renewing the North American Free Trade Agreement would continue on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York over the next several days.

TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Officials have been in talks nearly non-stop for a month as they try to overcome hurdles and agree on a NAFTA rewrite, under pressure from US President Donald Trump to sign onto a deal reached in August with Mexico.

The latest round between Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer ended Thursday without a deal.

"I don't think there are any formal encounters planned," Trudeau said as he addressed a press conference after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez.

"But certainly the fact that many of our negotiators will be in New York at the same time, it's very likely that conversations continue in a constructive but less formal way."

Freeland, who leads the team of Canadian negotiators, is due to deliver Canada's speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday.

US President Donald Trump, who called NAFTA "one of the worst trade deals in history," demanded that the 1994 accord be revised. The talks started a year ago.

The United States and Mexico sealed their own deal at the end of August, after reaching agreement on auto content requirements and intend to sign the accord by December 1, when Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office.

Source: AFP

Tags
canada ، US ، nafta
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