CANADA/FOREIGN POLICY/NAFTA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “…As Nafta talks have grown contentious in areas such as national content in auto manufacturing, the Canadian side is working behind the scenes to press its agenda at back-channel meetings away from the negotiating table.
Canada’s Liberal government, which has adopted a more pugnacious tone with the Trump administration on trade, is working to charm governors, lawmakers and other U.S. opinion leaders.
Ottawa is betting that friends in high places across the U.S. will recognize the damage tearing up Nafta could do to supply chains and growth—and pressure the Trump administration to leave the pact alone…
Canadians are doubling down on outreach, he said, because ‘while we are doing a better job of this, and getting people’s attention, we are not where we need to be.’…
Many observers believe the next round of talks, which will tackle the thorniest issues when they begin later this month in Montreal, could be make-or-break for Nafta’s future. Even though Canadians are crafting responses to U.S. proposals, they have also signaled their reluctance to compromise on ideas they don’t like.
Some U.S. proposals are ‘wholly unworkable,’ Canada’s chief Nafta negotiator, Steve Verheul, told lawmakers late last year.”
-Paul Vieira and Sara Schaefer Muñoz, “Canada Takes ‘Hug-an-American’ Approach to Saving Nafta,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 10, 2018 07:00am