U.S. facing headwinds in trade negotiations with Canada, U.S. ambassador says

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra, left, talks with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith prior to the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump arrives in Calgary. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said Washington wants to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) trade pact but faces resistance from Canada, underscoring uncertainty as a mandatory July 1 review approaches.

Speaking on Thursday at the Canadian Crops Convention in Toronto, he said the U.S. believes the USMCA pact, known as CUSMA in Canada, has worked well but there have been no “substantive” talks with Canada since October.

The Canadian minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade met with his counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, last week.

“I think we want to get to an agreement, but we are facing some headwinds in the negotiations,” Hoekstra said, citing a lack of “substantive” discussions since October.

A representative for the Canadian minister responsible for U.S. trade did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Ed White in Toronto and Promit Mukherjee in Ottawa; Editing by Howard Goller)