Trade talks in Washington, are being eagerly watched by many in Canada.

The attempt to renew and revamp the twenty-five year-old North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) affects varying sectors across the country.

“No deal will be better than a bad deal”

Autoworkers are worried about President Trump’s threats of tariffs on cars from Canada, while steelworkers are now working under the 25 per cent tariff imposed by Trump earlier this summer.

Farmers, particularly dairy farmers whose supply management system has been specifically targeted by Trump, are trusting in the politicians who are passionately defending the system.

Prime Minister Trudeau was at a high school in Kapuskasing in northern Ontario today.

When asked by reporters what he thought of these high stakes trade negotiations, Trudeau said “it has to be the right deal for Canada” and that “no deal will be better than a bad deal”.

“I personally will stand up to defend supply management”. Trudeau declared when asked about the issue.

Trade talks were raised when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with students at l’ecole secondaire catholique Cite des Jeunes in Kapuskasing, Ontario this morning. (CP/Frank Gunn)

Meanwhile in Quebec, where a provincial election campaign is underway, Premier Philippe Couillard vowed to protect the dairy industry, saying “Just watch me!”, when asked what he’d do.

And all those who work in Canada’s cultural industries have yet to see what may be the outcome of an agreement that Trump decided must be reached by Friday.

The surprising announcement of a new deal, one Donald Trump called “The United States Mexico Trade Agreement” has altered the playing field, even as American legal scholars ague the validity of such an agreement.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland arrived for a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and spoke to reporters in the sweltering temperatues this morning as the city copes with the heat wave that settled over north eastern north America.

Freeland said “we have a huge amount of work to do this week”.

Several contentious issues were resolved in the Mexican bilateral negotiating sessions.

Rules of origin on automobiles, which were understood to be one of the main areas of negotiation, that Canada did not need to be party to, were hammered out successfully.

As was a compromise on the five-year sunset clause that Canada was adamantly against. It has now been extended to a 16 year period with reviews every six years.

But Chapter 19, the dispute resolution system, is another area where Canada is holding out to maintain the strength in the current agreement.

Chrystia Freeland will hold a “NAFTA Council Update” tomorrow at noon.