Washington | Reuters — Senior U.S., Canadian and Mexican officials on Friday ended a week of talks without a deal to modernize NAFTA, agreeing instead to resume negotiations soon, ahead of a deadline next week issued by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan. The failure to secure a quick deal underscores uncertainty over the […] Read more
Negotiators fail to reach NAFTA deal
Ryan sets May 17 deadline for NAFTA deal
Washington | Reuters — U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has set a May 17 deadline to be notified of a new NAFTA trade deal to give the current Congress a chance of passing it, while Mexico’s top trade official on Thursday said time was running short to meet such a deadline. Ryan, who controls legislation […] Read more
NAFTA talks resume amid fears of ‘zombie’ deal
Washington | Reuters — Senior Canadian, U.S. and Mexican officials trying to rescue slow-moving talks to update the NAFTA trade pact met on Monday in a new bid to resolve key issues before regional elections complicate the process. With time fast running out to strike some kind of deal on the North American Free Trade […] Read more
U.S. trade chief says NAFTA approval on ‘thin ice’ without deal soon
Washington/Mexico City | Reuters –– U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Tuesday that if a deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement cannot be reached with Canada and Mexico in about three weeks, its approval by the U.S. Congress could be in jeopardy. Lighthizer said at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event […] Read more
U.S. Congress near deal on tax law’s impact on grain market
Washington | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers are close to resolving a problem with the new federal tax law that gives grain co-operatives an unintended market edge over private companies, but have had a hard time getting agreement among members of the farm sector, a Republican senator said Thursday. A provision in the Republican tax overhaul […] Read more
U.S. farm groups oppose Trump’s cuts to ag spending
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farm groups on Tuesday pushed back against President Donald Trump’s proposal to slash agriculture spending, viewing it as a fresh threat to a struggling farm economy. The White House on Monday proposed $46.54 billion in cuts to federal government funding for the agriculture sector over the next 10 years, including […] Read more
U.S. GMO food labeling bill passes Senate
UPDATED, July 7, 2016 | Reuters — The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would for the first time require food to carry labels listing genetically-modified ingredients, which labeling supporters say could create loopholes for some U.S. crops. The Senate voted 63-30 for the bill that would display GMO contents with words, pictures or […] Read more
Canada not yet pulling trade trigger on COOL
Canada remains “cautiously optimistic” that the U.S. government will repeal its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law before the Canadian and Mexican governments impose retaliatory tariffs. Federal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking Wednesday from Nairobi on a conference call with reporters, said she was “not going to go into hypotheticals” about Canada’s next move if an omnibus […] Read more
Clock ticking to avoid North American food fight
Winnipeg | Reuters –– The North American spat pitting Canada and Mexico against the U.S. over meat labels has sown confusion among producers and shippers in all three countries, with a trade war potentially just weeks away. The World Trade Organization on Monday authorized Canada and Mexico, the biggest markets for exported U.S. goods, to […] Read more
U.S. hopes to release TPP text in 30 days
Reuters — The U.S. administration hopes to release the full text of a Pacific trade deal within the next 30 days, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an interview with CNN. The U.S. sealed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 11 trading partners this week, after more than five years of negotiations. “The lawyers are […] Read more
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