NAFTA: Talks continue through weekend in scramble to get a deal soon
WASHINGTON — NAFTA negotiating teams will keep bargaining through the weekend in a rush to get a deal by early May, fuelled by a Trump administration desire to meet a legislative deadline.
Those teams kept talking while their political masters leading the process left Washington on Friday, with plans to reconvene there early next week.
Sources familiar with the talks say the sides are finalizing rules on auto parts; are still far apart over dairy, public procurement, and pharmaceuticals; and are likely inching toward a deal that will pare down the controversial dispute mechanism under NAFTA’s Chapter 11 that lets companies sue governments.
”You can call this a perpetual negotiating round,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said, before departing for the weekend.