By Canadian Press

USMCA on the way

Liberals push forward with ratification of new NAFTA in House of Commons

May 27, 2019 | 12:39 PM

OTTAWA — The federal government has moved forward in Parliament with the ratification of the new North American free-trade agreement as the legislative clock ticks towards a summer adjournment and fall election.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled a Ways and Means motion in the House of Commons this afternoon to lay the groundwork for ratifying the new pact.

Freeland says the full lifting of the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs on Canadian imports has paved the way for formal approval of the new deal.

She says Canada will move forward in tandem with the U.S. in ratifying the deal, as much as that is possible.

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Freeland says she will meet soon with her cabinet colleagues to update them on plans to table the necessary legislation to ratify the updated continental trade pact that Canada, the U.S. and Mexico signed last November.

On Thursday, U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence will be in Ottawa, where he is expected to exchange views with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Freeland on the legislative way forward in their two countries.

The Canadian Press