Canada is calling on the United States and Mexico to extend the free trade agreement between the countries for another 16 years, while U.S. President Donald Trump is once again raising the issue of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state, UNN reports with reference to the AP.
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Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's Minister of Trade with the USA, sent a letter on Tuesday to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, outlining Canada's recommendation.
"The agreement is very beneficial for each of our countries and for the integrated North American economy," LeBlanc wrote.
The letter was sent ahead of the review scheduled for July of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the latest version of the North American free trade agreement that has linked the economies of the United States, Mexico, and Canada since the early 1990s.
LeBlanc and Canada's chief trade negotiator Janice Charette are in Washington on Tuesday to meet with Greer. LeBlanc previously warned that the free trade agreement could be subject to annual review and that uncertainty might be an objective of the Trump administration.
On Monday, Trump posted a message on social media saying "51st State!" containing a link to an article reporting that Canada is falling into a technical recession. This post was later reshared by the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra.