US Sees Hope in Trade Talks With Canada, But Content With Just Mexico - Mnuchin

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is making progress in its trade talks with Canada and hopes to bring the country on board the deal announced on Monday with Mexico, but the Trump administration is willing to move forward with just a bilateral agreement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview on Tuesday.

"I think Ambassador Lighthizer has done a terrific job over the last year working on lots of details, we’ve made a lot of progress with Canada coming along on a lot of those. Hopefully, they’ll come on board but if not, we’ll move forward with Mexico," Mnuchin told CNBC.

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Mnuchin said the goal is still to bring Canada on board the deal quickly, but he believes the US Congress would approve a bilateral US-Mexico trade agreement that replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

President Donald Trump announced a preliminary agreement in principle with Mexico on Monday. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the agreement would re-balance trade and increase jobs for American workers.

The agreement will also modernize how the two countries conduct automobile trade and set the rules for any future bilateral agreements that include intellectual property, financial services trade and digital trade.