Progress Slow in Tackling Trade Disputes Between U.S., Canada, Mexico

(Industry Week – Joel Barry, Agence France-Presse)

Variety of issues under examination at NAFTA meeting

Some progress has been made toward confronting Washington's "Buy American" provisions but a swift resolution to the trade dispute is unlikely, Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day said on October 19. "We've made some headway," Day said after talks with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts at a North American Free Trade Agreement meeting in Dallas, Texas. "It's not a sprint, it's a marathon," Day said.

The U.S. stimulus bill allocates $260 billion to states and cities provided that only American-made steel and equipment be bought with the funding. Ottawa has been hoping the Obama administration would make an exception for Canadian goods in return for a guarantee that city and provincial bids would be open to U.S. firms.

Day also said that the strengthening of the Canadian dollar – partly arising from his country's "boring but stable" banking system that [avoided] the U.S. banking crisis – posed a further challenge to exporters north of the border. He quoted analysts as saying it could reach parity with the U.S. dollar by the end of the year. Read more here.