Canadian finance minister also said his government would prefer to hash out all details on trade in one broad negotiation instead of sector by sector.
Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the country would be willing to hold early talks on the North American free trade pact with the United States, which is scheduled for joint review next year.
“If the American administration indicated to us that they wanted to advance that date and have those conversations, we would be ready,” LeBlanc told Bloomberg News on Friday. He added that the nations have a lot of common interests between the three of them.
The United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) went into effect in 2020 and is scheduled for joint review in 2026. The pact replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA.
LeBlanc said the Canadian government would prefer to hash out all details on trade in one broad negotiation instead of sector by sector over the course of weeks.
Ottawa also wants to move quickly on trade agreements to prevent China from undercutting North American markets with predatory pricing.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
