AFP, Ottawa :
Canadian, Mexican and US trade representatives on Wednesday trumpeted strides made in a third round of continental free trade talks, despite major irritants casting a shadow over their meeting.
“We are making solid headway on bread and butter issues,” host and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said at the end of five days of negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
She cited “astonishing progress” made on “a number of the more technical but really important issues.”
But she acknowledged that some of the “hardest issues or proposals” have not yet come up for discussion.
“We have some challenging issues ahead,” she said.
Her counterparts, Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, were equally effusive about this round while cautiously optimistic about the next.
“There is an enormous amount of work still to be done, including some very difficult and contentious issues,” Lighthizer said.
“We will have substantial challenges to overcome,” echoed Guajardo, adding that Mexico “will be open to new ideas.”
The negotiations wrapped up as a row erupted over Canadian aircraft sales to the United States.
Ottawa slammed a whopping 220 percent countervailing duty that Washington imposed on major Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, following an investigation into state subsidies sparked by a complaint by US aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
This appeared, however, to have little or no impact on the outcome of the latest NAFTA talks, with Freeland vowing to deal with the aircraft issue separately.
Canadian, Mexican and US trade representatives on Wednesday trumpeted strides made in a third round of continental free trade talks, despite major irritants casting a shadow over their meeting.
“We are making solid headway on bread and butter issues,” host and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said at the end of five days of negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
She cited “astonishing progress” made on “a number of the more technical but really important issues.”
But she acknowledged that some of the “hardest issues or proposals” have not yet come up for discussion.
“We have some challenging issues ahead,” she said.
Her counterparts, Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, were equally effusive about this round while cautiously optimistic about the next.
“There is an enormous amount of work still to be done, including some very difficult and contentious issues,” Lighthizer said.
“We will have substantial challenges to overcome,” echoed Guajardo, adding that Mexico “will be open to new ideas.”
The negotiations wrapped up as a row erupted over Canadian aircraft sales to the United States.
Ottawa slammed a whopping 220 percent countervailing duty that Washington imposed on major Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, following an investigation into state subsidies sparked by a complaint by US aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
This appeared, however, to have little or no impact on the outcome of the latest NAFTA talks, with Freeland vowing to deal with the aircraft issue separately.
