Canada is pushing back against U.S. attempts to change the text of their September trade pact and the issue may have to be referred to ministers to settle, a Canadian source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
This story by David Ljunggren appeared in Automotive News Canada.
“Some of the stuff they (the Americans) have been putting forward is not at all what we agreed to,” said the source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.
Although the source said Ottawa did not feel the problem would wreck the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) deal, the affair shows that tensions remain after a stressful 13-month negotiation.
The U.S. and Canada reached a last-gasp deal on USMCA at the end of September, guaranteeing that free trade between the three nations would continue. Officials are now fine-tuning the wording on the deal intended to replace NAFTA.
“We are having discussions around the interpretation of a variety of things,” said the Canadian source.
No one was immediately available for comment in the office of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who led the negotiations for Washington.
Adam Austen, a spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, said it “is normal after an agreement-in-principle is concluded for all countries to work together to ensure the text is accurate.”
