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The U.S. and Mexico will probably reach a two-way NAFTA deal Tuesday, paving the way for Canada to re-enter the trade talks as early as this week, says a lawyer closely following the negotiations.

But Canada would return to the table – after four weeks of bilateral talks between its two other free-trade partners – under redoubled pressure from the Americans to buckle on key issues, said Dan Ujczo, a Columbus, Ohio-based trade lawyer regularly briefed on the process.

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That could mean this country will continue to face U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum – and possibly on automobiles exported to the States – well after Mexico is freed from the levies, he said.

Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico’s economy minister, is to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington Tuesday and is “highly likely” to finalize an agreement in principle on a range of issues, said Ujczo.

He expects that Canadian negotiators will rejoin the process to tackle the remaining topics by the end of the week.