Canada's Freeland Returns to Ottawa without NAFTA Conclusion

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland returned to Canada Thursday to be at a scheduled event on Friday without reaching a final agreement in the NAFTA 2.0 negotiations."We are really in a continuous negotiation phase. Officials are in pretty much constant contact. It would not be an exaggeration to say they are working 24/7," Freeland said as she exited talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.Freeland would only say the talks were "constructive," noting that she chose her words "carefully" to describe the discussions. "Today we discussed some tough issues," she noted.It is not clear when the next sessions will be between the top-level negotiators, but there could be opportunities for Lighthizer and Freeland to meet next week while UN meetings are taking place in New York.