Global
Eastern dealmakers watch feds fumble free trade opportunity
By Jesse Robichaud Nov. 10, 2017
Although two of the region’s top trade commodities, energy and lumber, fall largely outside the parameters of NAFTA, the renegotiation might have struck pay dirt for this northeastern part of North America that relies on shrewd partnerships and ambitious deal-making to compete globally. Instead, defensive reflexes have crowded out the best intentions, dragging the trade deal into this decade and the ones that lay ahead, writes Jesse Robichaud.
Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer give a joint statement on Sept. 27, 2017 at the end of the third round of negotiations to rework NAFTA. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Free trade across America’s northern border is at risk of remaining frozen in the 1990’s as the veneer of hopeful rhetoric fades from the NAFTA negotiating table. That’s bad news in New England and Atlantic Canada where time-tested trading partners would have benefited from the fulfillment of a more modern, inclusive reboot of the deal. Although two of the region’s top trade commodities, energy and lumber, fall largely outside the parameters of NAFTA, the renegotiation might have struck
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