Mexican ministers, who haven't been clear over the last 24 hours, have today sounded more committed to a three-country deal. "The agreement must be trilateral," Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray said on Mexican TV, adding he had "clear instruction" from President EPN about this.
Mexico's Videgaray today described the U.S.-Mexico agreement on a 16-year sunset clause with a review after 6 years as an agreement "to present an idea to Canada," not as a fait accompli.
Canada's Freeland has arrived in DC, but it isn't clear what her plans are. Her first stop was the Embassy, not the talks site. Canada's negotiators are dealing with U.S., Mex counterparts; Canadian officials say first step is getting specifics on what the U.S., Mex agreed to.
Meanwhile, senior Republicans and the business lobby - Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, etc. - are telling Trump to include Canada in any deal. GOP senators say there might be problems under trade law if he doesn't. We'll see. washingtonpost.com/business/econo…
Trudeau said again today that he'll defend Canada's protectionist dairy system. In TPP, Canada made a concession to allow foreign dairy to make up 3.25% of Cdn market. For all Trump's bluster, possible such tweaks will be enough here too. Again, we'll see.
