'We're not there yet,' Freeland says of NAFTA deal progress, amid reports of critical Trump comments


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NAFTA talks have not soured despite a report that Donald Trump told a news outlet the U.S. will make no compromises in any agreement with Canada, sources told CBC News.


Canada raised Trump’s comments during negotiations between Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and her counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, that are now in the final phase in Washington.


The Toronto Star reported Friday on comments Trump made, apparently off the record, in an interview with Bloomberg News suggesting the U.S. is in complete control of the negotiations and unwilling to make concessions. The U.S. president reportedly said his position was “going to be so insulting they’re [Canada] not going to be able to make a deal.” CBC has not independently verified the comments.


Asked about the report, Freeland insisted Canada won’t cave to any demand, and that the government will defend the national interest in any NAFTA deal.


“We’re looking for a good deal, not just any deal. And we will only agree to a deal that is a good deal for Canada. We’re not there yet,” Freeland said Friday from Washington.


Freeland said she and Lighthizer have been working hard, and that progress has been made in the last year since both sides began with starting positions that were “very far apart.”


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeated that position when asked about Trump’s remarks during an event in Oshawa, Ont.



“We’re going to remain constructive, positive, serious and creative about what we do around the negotiating table, in what we do in relation with the United States,” he said. “But we are also going to be unequivocal about always standing up for Canadians’ rights and Canadians’ interests.”


Sources tell CBC News that Chapter 19 of NAFTA, which contains a dispute resolution process that Canada is determined to keep and the U.S. wants to scrap, is the most challenging area in the talks, which are counting down under Trump’s self-imposed deadline of today.






Article source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/canada-sixties-scoop-survivors-reparations-180131194800533.html


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