Canada minister wears ‘Keep calm and negotiate NAFTA’ to Washington talks

Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland,
showing off her waggish side, wore a t-shirt with the words “Keep calm and
negotiate NAFTA” on it to Washington for high level continental trade talks
Wednesday.

The minister was spotted at the Ottawa airport late Tuesday sporting the
white shirt as she walked to the gate to catch her flight. A photo was posted
on Twitter.

Her spokesman Adam Austen told AFP “it was a gift from her children! She
wears it all the time.”

The related “Keep Calm and Carry On” slogan dates back to 1939, when the
British government put it on motivational posters in preparation for World War
II to reassure the public in the face of predicted mass air attacks on major
cities.

It has resurfaced in the last decade on t-shirts and other paraphernalia.
Canadian media have touted Freeland’s attire as a sign that Ottawa is not
prepared to cave to US negotiating pressures.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a telephone call with US President Donald
Trump on Tuesday “reaffirmed his commitment to a deal that works for both
countries,” according to a readout of the call.

Freeland was scheduled to meet with US Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) to try to hammer out a deal to revamp the
North American Free Trade Agreement, which she said last week after a round of
tense talks was “eminently possible.”

For the meeting, however, she changed into a more formal black dress
accented with a pearl necklace.

Ottawa in no rush for deal

Negotiations to modernize the 1994 accord between Canada, the United States
and Mexico started a year ago at the behest of president Trump, who called it
“one of the worst trade deals in history” for sending many manufacturing jobs

notably in the auto sector – to Mexico

The United States and Mexico sealed their own two-way deal at the end of
August, and Trump has since ramped up pressure on Canada to accept his terms.

But Ottawa has seemed reluctant to heed Trump’s push to sign a deal before
US midterm elections in November and the transfer of power in December to
Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — as Trudeau’s Liberals
also need a win to hold up to voters when they return to the polls in one year.

Stumbling blocks to a deal remain, including over Canada’s protected dairy
sector and cultural subsidies, as well as its demand for an international
system for resolving disputes. (AFP)