Canada, Mexico to firmly reject US NAFTA proposals but will offer to keep negotiations going: Sources

Chris Wattie | Reuters

Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (C) speaks before the start of a trilateral meeting with Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo (L) and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during the third round of NAFTA talks involving the United States, Mexico and Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 27, 2017.

Most U.S. lawmakers and business trade groups have aligned themselves with Canada and Mexico in wanting to preserve the deal.

It remains to be seen how President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly slammed the 23-year-old trade agreement, will react to the position. Trump has threatened to scrap the free trade agreement if the countries cannot strike a deal to rework it.

The fourth round of negotiations is concluding as the three nations push to meet a year-end deadline. Three additional rounds of talks are expected, for now. The final round had been slated for early December in Washington.

After the negotiations began this year, Trump derided NAFTA as the “worst trade deal ever made” and said the U.S. neighbors were “both being very difficult.”

Trump: We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada.Both being very difficult,may have to terminate?

Canada was the United States’ second-largest goods trading partner last year, while Mexico was the third, according to the office of the USTR. Mexico sent more goods to the U.S. in 2016 than every country but China.

Trump has focused his ire on trade deficits, which he says hurt the U.S. economy and American workers. The U.S. had goods trade deficits of about $63 billion and $12 billion last year with Mexico and Canada, respectively, according to the USTR.