Canada Foreign Affairs Minister Freeland resumes NAFTA talks with optimism
Washington, Sept 20 (IBNS): Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has resumed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks with the US in Washington, media reports said.
Expressing her optimism, Freeland said she is focussed on finding a compromise which will benefit all the three member nations- the US, Canada and Mexico- of the trade deal.
On the other hand, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he is firm in his own stands over NAFTA.
Trudeau has been quoted by CTV News as saying, "We've been very clear that we're interested in what could be a good deal for Canada, but we're going to need to see a certain amount of movement in order to get there."
Canada and the US are eyeing on to make the deal by Sept 30, a deadline which was triggered by US President Donald Trump.
In early September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had cleared that the Liberals won't compromise on culture and dispute resolution during the talks over NAFTA.
Trudeau said Canada won't sign a new deal if it does not include a dispute resolution mechanism and exemptions from cultural industries.
However, meetings were held between Freeland and the US officials to sign a deal.
NAFTA is an agreement which came into force from January 1994 by Canada, Mexico and United States creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.
Trump had earlier also alleged that the US faced severe losses in the trade pact with Canada and Mexico.
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