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In the United States, at a rally in Montana, US President Donald Trump told crowds of fans that "I'm going to be in the United States. NAFTA had been replaced by the trade agreement between Mexico and the United States.
"We will enter into a more equitable agreement with Canada," said the president. "Just as we did with Mexico."
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The President attended the rally following tense trade negotiations between Mexican and Canadian counterparts. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland resumed NAFTA negotiations with her US counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, last Wednesday.
She said the parties are "making progress".
While she was leaving the office of the US Trade Representative while she was traveling to the Canadian Embassy, Freeland did not indicate that the parties were closer to reaching to an agreement.
She reiterated that she and her colleagues believe that "an agreement that is good for Canada, good for the United States and good for Mexico is possible".
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Despite the apparent uncertainty of the negotiators, Trump said in a cheered room that "America is tired of being ripped off".
"We give our workers and our companies a level playing field," he said.
Trump has threatened to go ahead with an agreement that excludes Canada, but he also needs a victory over trade before the mid-term elections in November, which will put the test its ability to keep control of Congress.
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Canada and the United States must present a unified text to the US Congress by Oct. 1 to join the Trump administration's agreement with Mexico.
Both parties still have to resolve their differences on three key issues: dairy products, culture and the dispute settlement mechanism in Chapter 19.
The goal of this week's negotiations is to reach an agreement by December 1 so that Congress can approve a revised NAFTA to three countries before the new president of Mexico takes office.
-With files from the Canadian press.
© 2018 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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