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European officials are watching the NAFTA negotiations closely for a sign of how Trump and his team will approach trade talks with Europe. Those were launched as a result of a late-July agreement between the U.S. president and the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, though that pact also appeared fragile after Trump told Bloomberg News last week that in trade Europe was “almost as bad as China, just smaller”.

The debate over how and whether to include Canada in a new NAFTA that must be ratified by Congress illustrates Trump’s political isolation in his trade wars, something both Chinese and European officials have noted. It also comes just eight weeks before mid-term elections in which control of the U.S. legislative body is at stake and trade has already become a volatile issue.

In an attempt to gain leverage over the government of Justin Trudeau, the president has threatened to leave Canada out of the revised NAFTA and proceed with Mexico alone. The White House on Friday gave Congress the required 90-day notification that it would be signing a revised version of the quarter-century-old NAFTA with Mexico and would include Canada “if it is willing.”

The notice had to be sent Friday in order for Mexico’s outgoing government to sign the new deal before it leaves office Dec. 1.