NAFTA Round #4 negotiations have been ongoing and resulting in little progress on the serious issues surrounding the three nation trade pact.
Word from behind the scenes, and off-the-record, finds several insiders with the opinion that the decision by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbying group to conflict with President Trump and the U.S. trade team has backfired.
U.S. CoC President Tom Donohue made the decision to align in common cause with Canada and Mexico, against the interests of the U.S., and go public with his attacks against the U.S. negotiating team, the administration and President Trump personally.
Following the confrontational approach by the largest DC lobbying group, the U.S. team asked Canada to take their protectionist trade restrictions off the Dairy and Poultry sectors.  Canada was adamant they will never leave their agriculture unprotected, and rejected any consideration of open trade discussion toward those sectors.
The U.S. is standing firm on three elements that Mexico and Canada are dead-set against:
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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau back to the White House.
By all media accounts, especially those from Canada, the primary purpose of Trudeau’s visit is to firm up support for NAFTA.  Prior to the bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Trudeau was lobbying the congressional GOPe Ways and Means Committee to rebuke the America-First economic policies of President Trump.

[Transcript Here]

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Isn’t it interesting how heads of foreign governments feel so comfortable coming to the U.S., engaging with Washington DC politicians and openly attempting to eliminate the national economic policy interests of a sitting U.S. President (and American workers)?
No, really… think about that.  If you ever needed to remind your family, friends and neighbors of how thoroughly our national economic sovereignty has been destroyed, simply put the reality of foreign leaders lobbying Washington DC to retain their global interests into the context of any conversation…. then ask them to think about it.
Name another country that would even fathom allowing such activity.
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Earlier today President Trump welcomed the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins to the White House.
President Trump welcomed the Pittsburgh Penguins to the White House on Tuesday to congratulate them on their Stanley Cup win. “You are true, true champions, and incredible patriots…the NHL has not seen a three-peat in a generation, but I know you are ready for the challenge. I’m going to be watching so closely, because you think you’re going to be back here next year? I think so.”

Trump also suggested that Penguins owner Ron Burkle get involved with NAFTA negotiations: “I really mean that, if you want to get involved in negotiating NAFTA, I like it. Because we’re renegotiating NAFTA, Ron. Of course, he may not like that, because maybe he’s on the other side…You’re not on the other side of NAFTA, Ron, are you?” (link)
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Here we go… buckle up, and grab the popcorn.  This is the part where the “trillions at stake” comes into play…

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue is now engaged in a direct fight with U.S. President Donald Trump. As would be expected, and as we specifically predicted, Tom Donohue is now specifically aligning himself with Canada and Mexico against the interests of the United States economy.

Tom Donohue gives hundreds of millions to Mitch McConnell and the crony UniParty capitalist ilk that infect Washington DC. Donohue owns the vast majority of U.S. politicians. This battle is the epicenter of lobbying usurpation, and how multinational corporations own U.S. politicians. This battle will be epic.

MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The most powerful U.S. business lobby accused the Trump administration on Tuesday of making “poison pill proposals” to sabotage talks aimed at modernizing NAFTA, as negotiators began gathering in Washington for fresh trade talks.
[…] Speaking in Mexico City, Thomas Donohue, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s president and chief executive, listed several U.S. proposals that he said would undermine $1 trillion in annual trilateral trade, including a “sunset clause” to force regular negotiations.

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Oh my.  This is awkward.  The Somali terrorist who carried out the attack in Edmonton Canada, injuring five people, was originally in the U.S. and evaded deportation by seeking refugee status in Canada.
EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) – The Somali immigrant charged with attempted murder in connection with a weekend vehicle and knife attack in Edmonton, Alberta, was detained in the United States pending deportation before claiming refugee status in Canada, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, 30, is accused of running down a police officer with his car on Saturday night and then stabbing him repeatedly. Police said he fled before driving a U-Haul truck into four pedestrians during an attempt to evade capture.
Sharif was in custody in the United States for about four months in the summer and autumn of 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Lauren Mack said in a statement.
He was ordered deported to Somalia but released on an “order of supervision” on Nov. 23, 2011. Sharif did not appear for a scheduled meeting in January 2012, and efforts to locate him “were not successful,” the statement said.
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Not the Amish… 
EDMONTON, Canada (Reuters) – Canadian police on Sunday arrested a man whom authorities said they believe acted alone to carry out violent “attacks of terror” in the western city of Edmonton, injuring a police officer and four pedestrians with two vehicles and a knife.
A graphic surveillance video shows a Chevy Malibu hitting a police officer standing in front of a football stadium at about 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, sending him flying into the air. The driver gets out of the car and appears to stab the officer multiple times before fleeing.
A flag of the Islamic State militant group was found inside the Malibu, after the suspect ran off, said Rod Knecht, police chief of Edmonton, Alberta’s provincial capital.
The suspect, who authorities have not identified, was arrested several hours later following a car chase across a busy downtown street during which he intentionally sought to hit pedestrians, police said.
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Whoo-doggies, Wilburine ain’t messing around with this dispute.
U.S. aerospace manufacture Boeing filed an unfair trade complaint against Canadian aerospace company Bombardier stating the Canadian government was subsidizing the manufacturing of 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft.  Canada does subsidize their airline manufacturing, everyone knows this is true – even Canadians admit it.

Boeing was seeking an 80% import tariff on purchase contracts from U.S. airline carriers.  Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross looked into the trade dispute and agreed with the position of Boeing.  However, the Commerce Dept. did not stop at 80%. Wilburine estimated, then initiated, a whopping 219.63% countervailing duty assessment against Bombardier.
U.S. Commerce Department Announcement:

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft from Canada, finding that exporters of this merchandise received countervailable subsidies of 219.63 percent.
The Commerce Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft based on these preliminary rates.
“The U.S. values its relationships with Canada, but even our closest allies must play by the rules,” said Secretary Ross. “The subsidization of goods by foreign governments is something that the Trump Administration takes very seriously, and we will continue to evaluate and verify the accuracy of this preliminary determination.”

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Round three of NAFTA begins this weekend in Canada.  According to a leaked possible itinerary obtained by Reuters the auto-sector “rules of origin” will be discussed on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The auto sector rules of origin have been exploited by China to send auto manufacturing parts into Mexico, including massive electronic components, where they are assembled and shipped into the U.S. under NAFTA.  This trade maneuver is an exploitation, a back-door per se’, of the NAFTA agreement by China which Secretary Ross and USTR Robert Lighthizer are committed to stopping.
Secretary Wilbur Ross explains in this recent CNBC interview. WATCH:

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(Via Reuters) TORONTO  – U.S. first lady Melania Trump, on her first solo international trip on Saturday, to Toronto, met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and invited Britain’s Prince Harry to visit the White House.
Mrs. Trump, 47, who is leading the U.S. delegation attending the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games for wounded soldiers in Canada’s biggest city, also wished the U.S. team luck in a brief speech:

“On behalf of my husband and our entire country, I want to thank you and your families for all you have sacrificed to keep us safe,” Trump said at a reception for the U.S. team.
“I also want to wish you good luck but I know you won’t need it,” she added. “Take that fighting spirit that I know you have and bring home the gold.”
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UPDATE: The second round of NAFTA renegotiation concluded today in Mexico City, Mexico. A joint statement was released:
Washington, DC – On September 5, 2017, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo concluded the second round of the renegotiation and modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Mexico City, Mexico. This concluded five days of meetings by a team of subject matter experts covering various negotiation topics.
Building on the progress made in the First Round of the renegotiation and modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo, today successfully concluded the Second Round of negotiations, which took place in Mexico City from September 1 – 5.
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