Federal Government Policy and Business

Canada looks to U.S. Congress as one way to block U.S. NAFTA pullout

Reuters: OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will redouble its lobbying efforts in Congress to block any Trump administration move to pull the United States out of NAFTA, sources familiar with government strategy said, as talks to modernize the treaty run into trouble.

Canadian officials, preparing for a fifth round of negotiations to update the 1994 North American Free Trade Treaty, are increasingly concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump may make good on a promise to pull out of the pact.

The talks, resuming in Mexico City on Wednesday, stem from Trump’s insistence that the treaty - which he views as detrimental to U.S. workers - should either be improved to narrow U.S. trade deficits with Mexico and Canada, or scrapped. In the last round, in October, Washington made several proposals that Canada and Mexico rejected outright.

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