OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the new trade deal with the United States and Mexico is a good one for Canada that protects the agricultural supply management system and staves off threatened auto tariffs.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Trudeau says the revamped NAFTA deal — renamed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement — is successful in maintaining fairness and balance between Canada and the U.S., a trading partner 10 times its size.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says all farmers in supply management systems will be fairly compensated for the additional market access being given to trading partners in the deal.
However, she says the amount and type of compensation will be worked out in coming months while Canada, the United States and Mexico all work to ratify the agreement reached late Sunday.
Both Freeland and Trudeau say it’s important to remember that when the negotiations began over a year ago the U.S. aim was to dismantle supply management entirely, and Canada did not let that happen.
Trudeau noticeably did not mention U.S. President Donald Trump in his opening remarks, saying only in answer to a direct question that the relationship with the president has been challenging during the course of negotiations.