White House economic adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday that the U.S. and Canada are close to reaching a trade deal, but that “several sticking points remain” ahead of a midnight deadline.
“Everybody is negotiating in good faith right now as we speak,” Navarro said in a morning interview on Fox News. “The deadline is midnight tonight to get the text in to Congress … so it’s either going to be the text goes in with Mexico and the U.S. or the text goes in with all three countries.”
Navarro, director of the White House National Trade Council, indicated that either outcome appears plausible, saying he “just spoke” with the U.S. negotiating team.
The White House must give Congress the text of a proposed trade deal with Mexico by midnight to proceed under “fast track” trade rules. Trump left the door open to including Canada when he sent a formal one-month notice to Congress.
Navarro said there’s “broad agreement” on some matters, but that there remains an impasse with Canada on the country’s dairy market and support for continued trade dispute-resolution panels.
“Here’s where things stand. The broad brush of the deal is two things: one is we want to restore North America as a manufacturing powerhouse by reclaiming the supply chain. The deal in principle with Mexico will do that. If Canada comes in, that’s great,” Navarro said. “There’s also a modernization component that brings in things like protection for digital, [intellectual property], pharma, and things like that. That’s where things stand. There is broad agreement on virtually all of that. There are several sticking points. You mentioned one, dairy is another.”
In off-the-record remarks to Bloomberg in August, Trump said that he would make no trade concessions in negotiations with Canada. The remarks were made public, and Trump said he was glad that Canada understood his position. Last week, he refused to meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The political and economic stakes are high for both countries. Canada sends roughly 75 percent of its exports to the U.S., and Trump has threatened tariffs. But prominent business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce want a three-nation pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, and if Canada isn’t included, the Mexico deal could face difficulty in Congress.
