US, Canada fall short of NAFTA deal, will resume talks next week

The U.S. and Canada failed on Friday to reach a final deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) despite long discussions this week.

The two nations plan to take up where they left off on Wednesday.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the “talks were constructive, and we made progress.”

{mosads}”Our officials are continuing to work toward agreement,” Lighthizer said. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. notified Capitol Hill on Friday that the 90-day clock is starting on the U.S.-Mexico agreement, with the intent to include Canada before time runs out. 

Without Canada, a new NAFTA agreement won’t get through Congress. 

Getting a deal done within three months would give Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto a chance to sign the agreement at the end of November before leaving office.

Earlier in the day, the Toronto Star released off-the-record comments President Trump made about Canada on Thursday during an Oval Office interview with Bloomberg.

Trump said he would not give Canada any concessions in the talks and that a possible deal on trade with Canada would be “totally on our terms.”

Despite the rough start to the morning’s discussions, Canadian officials said they were making progress but there was disagreement on dairy and investor-state dispute rules.