The change came last week in talks between Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Foreign Minister, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the Globe and Mail reported. The first came when the Trump administration exempted Canada and Mexico from its 25% tariff on imported steel and 10% tariff on imported aluminum. Preserving NAFTA in some form is important because millions of auto-related jobs depend on exports from the U.S. to its southern and northern neighbors. U.S. trades more with Canada and Mexico than with Japan, South Korea, China, India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa combined. The potential breakthrough comes as new vehicle sales in the U.S. are falling modestly from record levels of 2016 and 2017.

Source: Forbes March 21, 2018 17:48 UTC