The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, March 9, edition that U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is warning that his country will extract "concessions" from Canada and Mexico in renegotiations of the North American free-trade agreement, and that a deal likely will not be finished until late next year.
The Globe's Adrian Morrow writes that while U.S. President Donald Trump last month spoke only of "tweaking" the trade relationship with Canada, his point man on NAFTA took a sharper tone in an interview Wednesday.
Mr. Ross said: "The Mexicans know, the Canadians know, everybody knows times are different. We are going to have new trade relations with people.
And they all know they're going to have to make concessions. The only questions is: What's the magnitude and what's the form of the concessions?" Mr. Ross said he and Mr. Trump have a "sense of urgency" on the negotiations, but that practical realities mean talks will not start until the second half of 2017 and will take about a year to complete.
Mr. Trump s nominee for U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. The government must provide Congress with 90 days notice before talks begin.
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