It’s Looking Increasingly Likely Canada May Get Shut Out of New NAFTA Deal

With just over a week to go before the deadline for negotiations hits, it looks like Canada may be left out of a trade deal to replace Mexico.

U.S. officials have said they want to finalize a trade deal before October 1st in order to be able to submit a final agreement to Congress in time to have it approved before the new government of Mexico takes over on December 1. The U.S. and Mexico already agreed to a deal.

Despite weeks of negotiations, however, Canada and the U.S. have not been able to reach an agreement. On Friday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that the U.S. is “very, very, close” to moving forward with a Mexico-only deal

“We’re still talking to Canada, and we’re getting very, very close to the deadline where we’re going to have to move ahead with Mexico all by themselves,” said Hassett in an interview with Fox News.

The disputed issues remain what they have been for several months: Canada’s protectionist barriers to its dairy market, Canada’s demand for a trade dispute settlement mechanism that disproportionately favors Canada, and Canada’s reluctance to modernize rules-of-origin regulations for auto manufacturing.

“I’m a little surprised that the Canadians haven’t signed up yet,” Hassett said.