Tillerson meeting with Canadian, Mexican foreign ministers

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is meeting with the foreign ministers of US neighbors Canada and Mexico for discussions that are likely to touch on the future of the three countries’ NAFTA trade agreement.
Tillerson met with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland on Wednesday morning. He is also due to meet with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, according to a statement from the Mexican government.
Freeland, a former trade minister, is a strong proponent of free trade and is expected to try to persuade President Donald Trump’s administration that Canada should be spared protectionist measures.
The Mexican statement said that in his meetings with Tillerson and US Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly on Wednesday, Videgaray would address issues including the protection of Mexicans in the US, migration, and security and border infrastructure.
Trump made free trade deals a major target during his campaign for the presidency. He has said that the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement has harmed American workers and that he wants to renegotiate the deal to get better terms for the US. The deal aimed at removing tariff barriers between Canada, Mexico and the US.
Canada and Mexico both send the bulk of their exports to the US and would suffer badly if NAFTA were ripped up, though Canadian officials say that if Trump walks away from the deal, Canada could fall back on a 1984 free trade deal with the US.