New NAFTA takes effect next month. U.S. is already threatening legal challenges

Submitted by admin on Fri, 06/19/2020 - 06:26

The new North American trade agreement isn't even in effect yet and the Trump administration is warning Canada and Mexico they might face legal actions under the pact.

That threat came from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during hours of hearings Wednesday in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Lighthizer said the other countries can expect to have cases launched against them if they fail to meet their commitments after the agreement takes effect July 1...

He then issued a more qualified threat involving Canadian dairy.

Lighthizer said he assumes the Canadian government was acting in good faith when it agreed to open some of the country's dairy market to foreign competition.

But he said Canada has a history of playing games that effectively shut out foreign competitors even after a trade deal is reached.

"There are a number of ways that they could implement their program that would be less helpful to us than others," Lighthizer said of Canadian dairy...

This was excerpted from the 17 June 2020 edition of CBC News.