Progress in Nafta talks, but very slow: US trade official

Talks aimed at revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement have advanced slowly, a US trade official said Monday, while holding out hope for breakthroughs in the next round of talks.

Negotiators from Canada, the United States and Mexico bore down on key issues in week-long talks in Montreal, averting a feared collapse of the bloc, which binds together nearly 500 million consumers.

With Washington accusing Canada of intransigence, Ottawa changed tack and presented new proposals on several key sticking points.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer slammed a few of those proposed compromises including on the auto sector, but agreed to keep talking.

A next round of Nafta negotiations has been scheduled for the end of February in Mexico, before moving to Washington.

"We finally began to discuss some of the core issues. So, this round was a step forward. But we are progressing very slowly," Lighthizer told a news conference.

"We'll work hard between now and the beginning of the next round (in Mexico at the end of February) and we hope for major breakthroughs during that period," he said.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said she was "pleased with the progress that has been achieved here this week."

"Canadians do not view trade as a zero sum game in which one side must lose in order for the other to win," she said.

"We've also said from the outset, last August, that we believe that Nafta must be updated and improved and that the benefits of trade must flow more broadly to more people in order for that trade to be sustainable."

Their tone was markedly more optimistic than at the start of the round when Canadian officials expressed concern the United States would pull out of Nafta.

To protect itself from such an eventuality, Ottawa had even announced last week that it was joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership along with 10 other Asia-Pacific countries.