美加努力解決分歧，達成新北美貿易協定

U.S. and Canadian negotiators pushed ahead in grinding talks to rescue the North American Free Trade Agreement on Thursday, but a few stubborn issues stood in the way of a deal, including dairy quotas, protection for Canadian media companies, and how to resolve future trade disputes.

A U.S. source familiar with the discussions in Washington said it was still unclear whether the two sides could bridge the gaps or whether President Donald Trump will opt for a Mexico-only bilateral trade deal.

Trump has set a deadline for a deal this week, prompting aides to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland to work well into the evening Thursday to find ways to move forward.

“We are making good progress,” Freeland told reporters following a short meeting with Lighthizer at the USTR offices Thursday evening.

She repeated her earlier statements that the day’s discussions were “constructive and productive” amid an atmosphere of “goodwill on both sides.”

The Trump administration charges that Canada discriminates against U.S. dairy exports. It also wants to end the Chapter 19 arbitration panels for resolving disputes over anti-dumping tariffs, something Canada has used to defend its lumber exports to the United States, despite U.S. charges that Canadian lumber is unfairly subsidized.

NAFTA’s Chapter 19 governs how disputes are resolved.

The third unresolved issue is Canada’s insistence that previous NAFTA cultural exemptions protecting its publishing and media companies from being acquired by American companies be preserved. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week said this was important to Canada’s national sovereignty and identity.

Lighthizer has referred to the exemptions as “cultural protectionism” as Canadian companies are free to buy U.S. media outlets.

The United States and Mexico reached an agreement on overhauling NAFTA at the beginning of last week, turning up the pressure on Canada to agree to new terms.

Trump said Wednesday that he expected it to be clear whether there would be a deal to include Canada in a few days.

Trump has notified Congress he intends to sign the trade deal reached last week with Mexico by the end of November, and officials said the text would be published by around Oct. 1.美國和加拿大的談判代表星期四繼續推動艱難談判，以挽救北美自由貿易協定，不過仍有一些問題導致無法達成協議，其中包括奶製品配額、加拿大對其媒體公司的保護以及解決未來貿易糾紛的機制。

一位瞭解談判情況的美國消息人士表示，目前尚不清楚雙方是否可以縮小差距，或特朗普總統是否會選擇僅實施與墨西哥的雙邊貿易協議。

特朗普總統已經設定本週達成協議的最後期限，這促使美國貿易代表萊希特和加拿大外交部長弗裏蘭德的雙方團隊週四連夜工作，以移動談判繼續前行。

弗裏蘭德星期四晚上在美國貿易代表辦公室與萊希特短暫會面後對記者說，“我們正在取得進展。”

她再次強調了之前的說法，就是“雙方都釋出善意”，當天的討論是“富有建設性和成效的”。

特朗普政府指責加拿大對美國乳製品出口不公平。美國還指出加拿大木材受到不公平的補貼，同時希望取消北美自貿協定第19條中用於反傾銷關稅糾紛的仲裁小組，加拿大利用這一條捍衛其對美國的木材出口。

第三個懸而未決的問題是加拿大堅持保留原有北美自貿協定中保護其出版和媒體公司不被美國公司收購的文化豁免權。加拿大總理特魯多本週表示，這對加拿大的主權和身份非常重要。

美國貿易代表萊希特稱這一豁免是“文化保護主義”，因爲加拿大公司可以自由購買美國媒體。

美國和墨西哥在上週初達成了一項對北美自貿協定全面改寫的協議，這給加拿大達成新條款增大壓力。

特朗普總統週三表示，他預計加拿大是否會納入新協議在未來幾天內就會明朗。

特朗普總統已通知國會，他打算在11月底前簽署上週與墨西哥達成的貿易協議。有關官員表示，協議文本將在10月1日左右公佈。