CANADA/CONGRESS/MEXICO/NAFTA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration and Congress are on a collision course over the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement as the White House prepares to release text of a trade deal with Mexico that does not include Canada. Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said on Thursday [9-27-18] that while the administration still hopes to strike a deal with Canada, he is confident that lawmakers would greenlight a revised Nafta that includes only Mexico…Lawmakers, however, have expressed deep reservations about any deal that does not include Canada, suggesting it would not have the votes to pass. Mr. Mnuchin’s comments came a day after President Trump lashed out at Canada, saying it mistreated the United States on trade, and threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian automobiles if a deal is not reached. Mr. Trump, speaking at a news conference, claimed that he had rebuffed a request from the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, for a meeting and criticized Canada’s trade negotiator, Chrystia Freeland, the foreign affairs minister. ‘We don’t like their representative very much,’ Mr. Trump said.”
–Alan Rappeport and Jim Tankersley, “Congress Uneasy as Trump Moves to Revise Nafta Without Canada,” The New York Times online, September 27, 2018