Kirsten Hillman

Canada’s Ambassador to the US Kirsten Hillman told a Senate committee that negotiators were trying to ‘work out the contours of a first step’ for a trade arrangement before US President Trump abruptly ended trade discussions last week. Hillman was asked at the committee hearing where talks were headed before the sudden halt. While she indicated progress had been made since Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Washington earlier this month, she said some sticking points remained. “I don’t want to suggest that we were on the verge of an arrangement. But we had made more progress, in my opinion, in those weeks than we had in a very long time,” Hillman said. …“The US expressed the desire to start with a few issues and try to move those along, while not jettisoning the others,” Hillman said.

In related coverage:

• Megan Messerly in Politico: White House: Trade talks with Canada were going south before the Reagan ad
• Kelly Malone in Global News: Canada, U.S. still talking despite Trump ending trade negotiations: envoy
• Doug Ford in WSJ: Why Ontario Ran the Reagan Act – Not a hostile act but rather an encouragement to embrace what has made our nations great