The Financial Post reports in its Thursday, Nov. 16, edition that the North American free-trade agreement talks resume on Wednesday mostly where they left off a month ago. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that on Wednesday, Cabinet-level officials responsible for NAFTA from all three nations said they will skip attending the talks for the first time and leave discussions to their negotiating groups. It is the latest sign that reaching a deal is not imminent. On Saturday, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray made a thinly veiled threat to scale back efforts to police its border with the U.S. if it did not like where renegotiations were heading. On Tuesday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned the Trump administration was losing patience with the proceedings. Now Canada has used NAFTA -- specifically, a section the U.S. wants to eliminate -- to file a legal challenge of U.S. softwood lumber duties. Last month the parties extended talks through March, after the U.S. introduced its toughest proposals that were rejected by Canada and Mexico. The fifth round of talks are beginning with technical discussions and will formally kick off with the chief negotiators on Friday through Nov. 21.