Trade Talks With US, Mexico Posed 'Existential Challenge' To Canada - Deputy PM Freeland

TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) The US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) negotiations presented an existential challenge to Canada, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press-conference in Mexico City on Tuesday.

Earlier today, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that a deal on an updated USMCA addressing Democrat concerns was brokered. She said the three countries returned to the negotiating table to outline a certain threshold of enforcement on workers' rights, prescription drugs and the environment.

"This negotiation has been an existential challenge for our country," Freeland said following Pelosi's announcement.

Trade negotiations began following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, who outlined his vision for renegotiating the United States' trade agreements with other countries, including the NAFTA deal, during his election campaign in 2016.

Canada, Mexico and the United States have been engaged in talks to modernize their trade deal for over two years, even striking a deal last fall. However, the deal was only ratified by Mexico, with the US House of Representatives choosing to review the deal, following the midterm election, which saw the lower chamber revert to a Democratic majority.

The current NAFTA agreement has been in place since 1994.