Canada calls discussions with US on USMCA 'constructive'

By Promit Mukherjee

OTTAWA, March 6 (Reuters) - Canada and the U.S. held a "constructive" discussion on the review of the North American free trade pact, the office of the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade said on Friday.

Minister Dominic LeBlanc was in Washington on Friday to meet with his U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer to discuss the upcoming trilateral review of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal and other bilateral concerns.

"They had a constructive and substantive discussion pertaining to the Canada-United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) Joint Review process, and on broader bilateral trade issues," LeBlanc's office said.

LeBlanc and Greer also agreed to continue to work together on these trade issues, and will speak again in the coming days to further their discussions, his office said.

LeBlanc also introduced Canada's new chief trade negotiator to the United States, Janice Charette, and Canada’s newly appointed ambassador to the United States, Mark Wiseman, to Greer, the statement from the office added.

The trilateral free trade deal is up for review by July 1 this year.

President Donald Trump has previously said that he could ditch the trilateral deal as it was irrelevant for the United States, and could strike separate deals with Canada and Mexico instead.

Last week, during a fireside chat, LeBlanc had said that Canada was negotiating with the U.S. to remove tariffs on some affected sectors, and a deal could be folded into bilateral pacts alongside a review of the free trade agreement.

U.S. Trade Representative Greer has previously said that negotiations with Canada were “more challenging,” citing unresolved barriers such as restrictions on dairy and milk markets and U.S. wine and spirits sales.

Canada and the U.S. have not officially started the review process of the USMCA, although the U.S. has already kicked it off with Mexico.

U.S. and Mexican negotiators will hold bilateral discussions starting the week ​of March 16 as part of the joint ‌review of the trade agreement, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Thursday.