An agriculture official
from Canada says trying to determine the U.S. direction for the North American
Free Trade Agreement is like “following a pinball.” Ron Bonnett, the Canadian
Federation of Agriculture president, was attending when President Donald Trump
spoke at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention last week. Bonnett told
an Ontario, Canada-based newspaper that he is still optimistic that NAFTA will
be renegotiated, but says “It’s like following a pinball to figure out exactly
where it’s going,” regarding the ever-changing positions taken by Trump.
Reports from Canada last week suggested that the county was expecting Trump to
withdraw from the agreement. But, at the same time, reports in the U.S. are
suggesting Trump may be softening his position on NAFTA, and shifting away from
the threats to withdraw. Further, the Canada farm organization reports seeing
more pressure building in the U.S. from agriculture and other industries to
keep and modernize the agreement. Canada will host the sixth and potentially
make-or-break round of NAFTA talks later this month in Montreal.
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