Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is remaining mum on the ratification timeline for the new North American free-trade agreement, but he said Canada will be aligning itself “very much” with the pace of the American legislative process.
This story by the Canadian Press appeared in Automotive News Canada.
Trudeau said the trade pact between the U.S., Mexico and Canada is a “good deal” for Canadians and the government will keep moving forward on its ratification.
Trudeau’s remarks came prior to a cabinet meeting this morning and after Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled a motion in the Commons on Monday, laying the groundwork for ratifying the pact.
Freeland has said the full lifting of the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs on Canadian imports has helped to pave the way for a formal approval of the deal.
She is expected to update her cabinet colleagues on plans to table the necessary legislation to ratify the deal that was signed on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires last November.
The new North American free trade agreement will beat its June legislative deadline and be ratified by Parliament, Freeland predicted Monday, but she acknowledged that Canada can’t bring the new deal into force by itself.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — USMCA, or CUSMA to Canadian officials — requires the ratification of all three countries, which is why the federal government is collaborating so closely with its other two partners, she said after question period Monday.
