OTTAWA, April 22 (Reuters) – Canada will not allow the United States to simply dictate the terms for a scheduled review of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade treaty, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday.
Mexico has already held two rounds of talks with the United States about the review and will hold its first formal round of negotiations next month. No date has been announced for any talks involving Canada.
The review is due to be complete by July 1.
Former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who sits on a panel advising Carney on Canada-U.S. economic relations, told Radio-Canada that Washington was seeking “a lot of concessions from Canada” before talks began.
“It’s not a case that the United States dictates the terms. We have a negotiation, we can come to a mutually successful outcome – it will take some time,” Carney told reporters.
President Donald Trump last year slapped tariffs on key imports from Canada, prompting Canada to respond with countermeasures. Carney says Trump’s actions mean Canada needs to diversify trade and cut its heavy reliance on the United States.
Canada’s chief trade negotiator with the United States, Janice Charette, said on Tuesday that she did not expect Canada and the U.S. to resolve all issues by July 1, but that would not mean the North American trade agreement would collapse.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Hugh Lawson)