Washington, Oct 11 (AFP) A fourth round of talks torevamp a landmark North American trade pact begin today amidinflamed tensions between Washington and Ottawa over a tradedispute involving Bombardier aircraft.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet USPresident Donald Trump at the White House in the afternoon,with negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreementunderway nearby in the Washington suburb of Arlington,Virginia.
Trudeau's visit comes as US officials are seeking toimpose retaliatory import duties on imports of certainBombardier aircraft, claiming the Canadian government hasunfairly subsidized them.
Ottawa in turn has threatened to cancel an order for 18Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced thattalks had been extended by 48 hours and would concludeyesterday with a press event held jointly with Mexican EconomyMinister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal and Canadian ForeignMinister Chrystia Freeland.
"Thus far, we have made good progress, and I look forwardto several days of hard work," Lighthizer said in a statement.
The United States takes in three quarters of Canadianexports. But trade relations have been strained since Trump'sinauguration earlier this year.
The American president has repeatedly threatened to scrapNAFTA, which established a free-trade zone between the Canada,the United States and Mexico in 1994.
With a nationalist economic agenda, Trump has denouncedthe agreement as a job destroyer and a "disaster" for theUnited States, vowing to reverse offshoring by renegotiatingthe treaty.
In an interview with Forbes magazine published yesterday,Trump said he preferred bilateral trade agreements.
"I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminatedif we're going to make it good," he told the magazine.
The talks to revise NAFTA began in mid-August. Threeprevious rounds have taken place with no major breakthroughsannounced.
Following the most recent round in Ottawa last month,negotiators said they had made progress on subjects such astelecommunications, competition policy, digital trade,regulation and customs and trade facilitation.
Negotiators have completed talks on NAFTA provisionsrelating to small and medium enterprises as well ascompetition, Lighthizer's office said.
The updated provisions on competition will allow for more"procedural fairness" in the enforcement of competition law,the statement said.
A major sticking point has been $64 billion US tradedeficit with Mexico, which Washington wants to reduce oreliminate.
IMF Economic Counsellor Maurice Obstfeld warned yesterdaythat all three NAFTA countries faced economic consequences ifthe outcome of the talks ended up disrupting trade relations.
(AFP)RB.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.