Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse



The Trump administration appears virtually certain to miss its weekend deadline for reaching agreement with Canada on a new North American trade deal, according to U.S. officials and people close to the talks.

In recent days, officials have issued a series of increasingly pessimistic assessments of the chances of including Canada in the https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/27/us-mexico-reach-partial-agreement-resolve-trade-conflict-step-towards-nafta-deal/?utm_term=.ffe0f9f89b76 (trade deal with Mexico), which was finalized last month.

The administration wants to notify Congress of its plans for a new North American accord by Sunday to meet a timetable permitting the current Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto to sign it on his final day in office November 30.

A downbeat U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer Tuesday said negotiators are “sort of running out of time” to include Canada in the deal.

Major disagreements remain over Canada’s dairy management program, a dispute resolution process and the fate of U.S. tariffs on metals imports from Canada.

If the remaining gaps cannot be bridged in the next few days, the administration will request congressional approval of a deal with Mexico only, Lighthizer said in New York at the Concordia summit, an annual conference on policy issues.

“There’s still a fair amount of distance between us. There are very large issues,” Lighthizer said, playing down chances of a deal with Canada.
 
Top