(Bloomberg) -- It’s possible the U.S., Canada and Mexico can rework the North American Free Trade Agreement even as significant gaps remain including over some “unconventional” American proposals, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said.
Freeland speaking Wednesday with Bloomberg’s Michael McKee in a television interview in New York, said the three nations should all be able to win from a revamped pact.
“I was cautiously optimistic” following the end of a round of talks earlier this week in Montreal, Freeland said. “We made some progress on the most difficult issues, the areas of the unconventional U.S. proposals, where we managed to start a real conversation.”
Freeland’s comments come one day after U.S. President Donald Trump sidestepped Nafta in his State of the Union speech, saying only the U.S. has “turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals” -- and two days after the sixth round of talks ended with some progress and a U.S. demand to speed things up.
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Freeland, a former trade minister, was shuffled into her role shortly after Trump’s election and given particular responsibility for U.S. ties. Canada is pushing for modernization of Nafta while mounting a widespread lobbying campaign in the U.S. to put pressure on Trump to not follow through on his threat to kill the deal.
“Significant differences remain,” Freeland said. “We have some hard work to do to bridge those differences. I believe that it is absolutely possible. I think a win-win-win outcome can be achieved. But at the same time our approach in Canada is hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and we are doing both.”
The best solution to the softwood lumber dispute is a negotiated settlement, Freeland said, adding the disagreement, which predates the Trump administration, is on a separate track to the Nafta talks.
While she praised the U.S. International Trade Commission’s decision on Bombardier Inc., she declined to say whether Canada would now actively consider buying fighter jets from Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co.
