(CBSA via YouTube)

NAFTA negotiators hone in on origin rules, dispute settlement

Washington | Reuters — U.S., Canadian and Mexican negotiators on Friday began digging into some of the thorniest issues in modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, including rules of origin for goods produced in the region, services trade and a controversial dispute settlement system. A copy of the NAFTA negotiating agenda obtained by Reuters […] Read more



(CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Canada, Mexico urge quick NAFTA talks to end uncertainty

Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — Top Canadian and Mexican diplomats expressed optimism on Thursday that a NAFTA deal could be reached early next year and cautioned that widespread uncertainty over the future of the three-way trade agreement had slowed business investment. Mexican sources say the plan is to hold seven rounds of talks at three-week intervals, […] Read more




U.S. President Donald Trump (r) and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on April 25 at the White House.

Cross-border trade: Baby steps, clues and competition

The Trump administration has been hampered by the Democrat opposition party trying everything to delay confirmation of Trump appointees. So it was mid-May before the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was finally confirmed, nearly four months after the inauguration. That factor, plus Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s confirmation only a couple of weeks earlier, hampered the […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. proposes cutting biofuels requirements due to ‘market realities’

New York | Reuters — The U.S. government on Wednesday proposed reducing the volumes of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel in 2018, in a move that could mark the first step towards a broader overhaul to the controversial energy policy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal marked a slight decline […] Read more

Japan’s Imperial Palace and Nijubashi Bridge, in Tokyo. (CIA.gov)

EU, Japan officials seal trade agreement

Brussels | Reuters — Japan and the European Union should agree on Thursday to a free trade pact that could be completed within months, after senior officials removed final snags to a political deal intended as a signal to U.S. President Donald Trump. “We ironed out the few remaining differences,” European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom […] Read more


(USDec.org)

Dairy protection sought ahead of NAFTA talks

CNS Canada — The head of Canada’s dairy industry group highlighted the role of Canadian dairy producers in the domestic market, as the potential for trade agreement renegotiations loom. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier in the year he was considering pulling the U.S. from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but later shifted […] Read more

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture Jose Calzada (l-r) speak at the Port of Savannah, Ga. on June 20. (Stephen B. Morton photo courtesy Georgia Ports Authority)

NAFTA agriculture ministers see ‘few’ differences over trade

Garden City, Ga. | Reuters — The U.S., Canada and Mexico have “relatively few” differences on agricultural trade, agriculture ministers from the three countries said in a joint statement after meeting Tuesday to discuss the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, some “irritants” are present for each country in the runup to […] Read more