Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to travel to Washington to “reset” the trade talks today. And the situation is tricky for the country. Trump appeared to want to play an upper hand by saying that “we’ll give them a chance to have a separate deal, or we could put it into this deal.” On the other hand, Freeland’s office sounded firm and said Canada “will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class.”
And what’s more confusing is that Trump made himself clear again he is ditching NAFTA, which is a “ripoff”. But Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto constantly refer to the name of NAFTA, sounding like this is the agreement in negotiation. And, Republicans are also clear that a final agreement should include Canada. Sen. John Cornyn also indicated that a final agreement with Canada has “bipartisan support”.
Technically, in the US-Mexico agreed deal, percentage of auto-parts must be produced in North America increases from 62% to 75%. And, at least 40% of vehicles must come from suppliers paying at least USD 16 an hour on workers. Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said that “the whole issue of rules of origin is considered trilaterally, so if we go forward with a bilateral model it would need to be rethought.” And he added that “it’s not the same having integration between three countries as two.”
So, Trump’s verbal threats to Canada are more likely bluffs than substance. Good news is more likely than bad when Freeland comes out of Washington
