Canada agrees to join trade accord with US and Mexico, sending new NAFTA deal to Congress

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council after an agreement was reached in the NAFTA negotiations Sunday in Ottawa, Ontario. The U.S. and Canada reached the basis of a free trade deal Sunday night, a senior Canadian government official said. (Justin Tang | The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada late Sunday agreed to join the trade deal that the U.S. and Mexico announced last month, with a public announcement expected before a self-imposed midnight deadline designed to allow the current Mexican president to sign the accord on his final day in office, according to two people familiar with the talks,

Diplomats from all three countries engaged in a flurry of telephone consultations over the weekend, reviving hopes of preserving the three-country format of the original North American Free Trade Agreement favored by business groups and congressional Republicans.

Few details of the agreement were immediately available ahead of the announcement. But Canada’s dairy management system and a dispute resolution process were among the last sticking points, according to those familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations.

The new treaty is expected to be signed by President Donald Trump and his Canadian and Mexican counterparts in 60 days, with Congress likely to act on it next year.

To read the rest of “Canada agrees to join trade accord with US and Mexico, sending new NAFTA deal to Congress,” an article by David J. Lynch of the Washington Post, please follow this link to the BDN online.