Canadian aspirations for labour mobility hit U.S. wall in NAFTA talks
OTTAWA — Canada’s goal of increasing the flow of workers across the continent’s borders has slammed into U.S. intransigence during the first two rounds of North American Free Trade Agreement talks.
And no progress is expected in the third round of negotiations, which start this weekend in Ottawa.
The issue was expected to be a tough sell going into the talks because of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies, and based on a series of interviews, that has proven to be the case.
One source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the ongoing talks, says that U.S. negotiators wanted nothing to do with the topic when it was raised in the first two rounds.