Canada Minister of foreign affairs Freeland: Canada is prepared for every eventuality

Speaking on NAFTA

Canada's Minister of foreign affairs Chrystia Freeland speaking on NAFTA:

• Canada is prepared for every eventuality in NAFTA negotiations
• hopes for the best, prepare for the worst in the talks
• bilateral balances 'not useful measure'of trade
• seeks better understanding of extreme NAFTA proposals

The talks are in the 5th round this week and progress is slow as Canada and Mexico view the US proposals as a non-starter

One such sticking point is the US proposal that half the value content of all North American built autos be produced in the United States, and that the regional vehicle content requirement be sharply increased to 85% from 62.5% currently.

Canada and Mexico argue that the US would lose up to 24,000 auto parts manufacturing jobs from the US proposal as parts production would move to low cost Asian suppliers instead. They also argue that the US leaving NAFTA would lead to 50K jobs in the US being lost.