US, Canada sign last minute NAFTA deal

Canadian and US negotiators reached a deal late Sunday on reforming the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canadian media reported, after more than a year of talks triggered by US President Donald Trump’s discontent with the 24-year old pact.

“The agreement will govern nearly 1.2 trillion (dollars) in trade, which makes it the biggest trade deal in the United States history,” Trump told a news conference in the White House Rose Garden. Calling the new accord “truly historic news for our nation -- and indeed, for the world,” the US leader said he hoped to sign it by the end of November, along with Canada’s Justin Trudeau and the outgoing Mexican leader Enrique Pena Nieto, who leaves office on December 1. The new trade accord still requires approval by lawmakers in all three NAFTA signatory countries.

Talks between the US, Canada and Mexico began last August after Trump called it “one of the worst trade deals in history.” “It’s a good day for Canada,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. Mexican FM Luis Videgaray tweeted that the deal was good for his country “and for North America.”