Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, appears on Fox News to discuss the overall economy and key performance indicators related to ongoing economic policy. Within the interview (02:32) Chairman Hassett notes the unusual intransigence of Canada to join the U.S-Mexico trade deal.

There are numerous indicators that Canada has made the decision to exploit a “no deal” trade position for maximum domestic political benefit. However, despite Canada’s intransigence the U.S. and Mexico are positioned to finalize the agreement bilaterally.

“I’m a little surprised that the Canadians haven’t signed up yet. I worry that politics in Canada is trumping common sense because there’s a very good deal that was designed by Mexico and the U.S. to appeal to Canada. And they’re not signing up and it’s got everybody over here a little bit puzzled.”

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Supporting the U.S. and President Trump today; and underlining how strong the U.S-Mexico trade agreement is; Mexico even went so far as to tell Canada today to be ready for a CAN-MEX bilateral if they don’t join.

Obviously the Mexican trade team is firing a few shots across the Canadian bow; a stunning Trumpian-inspired shift in North American trade alliances.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s incoming government will pursue a bilateral deal with Canada if talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement falter, Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday.

After more than a year of talks to modernize the NAFTA trade pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada, the United States and Mexico reached a side deal in late August. Days later, Canada began negotiating with the United States to close a deal on the 24-year-old trade pact. But the talks have hit an impasse over U.S. threats to impose tariffs to Canadian auto exports. “We would like the government of the United States and the government of Canada to come to an agreement so the treaty can be trilateral, as it was originally signed,” said Lopez Obrador, a veteran leftist who takes office in December. “But in the event that the governments of the United States and Canada do not come to an agreement … we would have to maintain the bilateral deal with the United States and seek a similar deal with Canada.” READ MORE

Adviser says U.S. close to Mexico-only NAFTA deal, Canada unmoved https://t.co/jKOyix0EPU — Reuters Top News (@Reuters) September 22, 2018

Mexico will seek deal with Canada if NAFTA talks fail: Lopez Obrador https://t.co/DUu1yZQxHa — Reuters Top News (@Reuters) September 22, 2018

Canada is clueless – Watch:

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