Canada, the United States and Mexico wrapped up a two-day status report on their shared continental trade agreement Friday as the deal that replaced NAFTA passed its three-year anniversary.

There are three more years to go before a required review in 2026 that has the potential to scuttle the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but International Trade Minister Mary Ng doesnB次元官网网址檛 sound worried.

The Free Trade Commission meetings, this year hosted by Mexico, are an annual exercise to ensure the deal is being implemented as designed B次元官网网址� and to hear Ng tell it, each year offers more proof that the USMCA is worth saving.

B次元官网网址淭his is the largest trading relationship in the world, and we are working together to be more competitive,B次元官网网址� Ng said in an interview after the meetings wrapped up.

Ensuring the three countries can get past the 2026 review for USMCA, known in Canada as CUSMA, will guarantee a full 16 years of prosperity until the current terms of the agreement expire in 2036, she said.

B次元官网网址淲e all recognize thereB次元官网网址檚 a date in 2026, but 16 years, 2036 B次元官网网址� thatB次元官网网址檚 the goal.B次元官网网址�

Much of the discussion focused on B次元官网网址渦nder-the-hood stuff,B次元官网网址� she said, including efforts to ensure small and medium-sized businesses are better integrated into the value chains the agreement is meant to foster.

It also focused on assessing efforts to introduce labour reforms in Mexico, where Ng said CanadaB次元官网网址檚 labour unions have been integral in helping to ensure more workplaces are meeting the standards set out in the deal.

The union certification process, once a six-year ordeal, now takes only six months, she said, with some 10,000 new collective agreements in place to benefit an estimated 500,000 newly unionized workers.

During bilateral discussions Thursday, Ng and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai exchanged long-entrenched positions on the usual array of irritants, including CanadaB次元官网网址檚 plan to implement a digital services tax next January.

The measure is aimed squarely at digital enterprises that are based outside Canada B次元官网网址� many of them headquartered in the U.S. B次元官网网址� that generate revenues from the engagement, content and data of their Canadian users.

Canada has delayed implementing the three per cent levy until 2024 in hopes of waiting out a separate but similar international digital tax regime, spearheaded by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Separate U.S. and Canadian summaries of the bilateral meeting featured Tai urging Ng to abandon the tax plan, and Ng urging Tai to sign on to the OECD measure, which it has yet to do.

B次元官网网址淐anada was very much a part of thatB次元官网网址� OECD effort, as was the U.S., Ng noted. B次元官网网址淲e all negotiated this, so letB次元官网网址檚 work as hard as we can to get this implemented.B次元官网网址�

Tai also called on Ng to make good on a USMCA commitment to allow home-shopping channels like QVC to operate in Canada B次元官网网址� an effort the minister said is well underway and close to fruition.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e made good progress B次元官网网址� this is one of those files that I would classify as B次元官网网址榳ell advanced,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淲e are working to implement that part of the agreement B次元官网网址� and that work continues.B次元官网网址�

Ng said she also pressed Tai on two other outstanding issues: duties on Canadian exports of softwood lumber, and the question of whether the U.S. will abide by a tribunal ruling on automotive parts.

A dispute panel ruled late last year that the U.S. interpretation of foreign content rules for autos was B次元官网网址渋nconsistentB次元官网网址� with the terms of the deal.

The USMCA increased the allowed B次元官网网址渞egional value contentB次元官网网址� for automotive parts to 75 per cent, up from 62 per cent, as part of an effort to give all three countries a bigger piece of each otherB次元官网网址檚 auto manufacturing sector.

In a core component such as an engine, the long-standing concept of B次元官网网址渞oll-upB次元官网网址� allows such a part to be considered as having 100 per cent North American origins once the regional threshold of its various elements is met.

ItB次元官网网址檚 an essential step to determine which vehicles are deemed duty-free. The U.S. had tried to argue for a more rigid interpretation of the agreementB次元官网网址檚 language, but the panel rejected that argument outright.

Since then, the U.S. has been largely silent on how it intends to respond, and officials in TaiB次元官网网址檚 office offered no clues during a telephone briefing Wednesday about whether the meetings would produce any clarity.

James McCarten, The Canadian Press

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