A new NAFTA deal is unlikely by the end of this year, but Premier Kathleen Wynne says she is optimistic a trade agreement can be reached because it is “critical” to the countries’ economies.

Speaking Thursday at the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre in downtown Toronto, Wynne and Minister of Economic Development Brad Duguid said “we’re in uncharted waters in terms of the uncertainty that has developed because of the protectionism of the United States at this particular moment.

“And so, it is imperative that we continue to work together,” said Wynne.

The premier has personally met with 31 U.S. governors to tout cross-border trade ties, “to talk about the relationship that we have and the degree of integration between our two economies … it is extremely important that we continue that dialogue because there isn’t a clear answer at this point of exactly how we are going to come to a final agreement on NAFTA.”

She said in all her discussions, “there’s a clear understanding of how important NAFTA is, how important our integrated economies are.”

Talks surrounding the North American Free Trade Agreement have been strained, with the U.S. taking a tough stand and Canadian and Mexican officials expressing concerns about unreasonable demands.

On Wednesday, the U.S. commerce secretary acknowledged the Trump administration is seeking concessions from Canada and Mexico for the trilateral deal, but will not give up anything in return.

But Wynne told reporters that when she speaks to governors “I only hear how important (NAFTA) is, how they understand how many hundreds and thousands of jobs in their jurisdictions — 9 million jobs in the U.S. are dependent on Canadian companies.”

Because of the benefits of NAFTA, “I believe that we will get there,” Wynne said of reaching a new deal. “Is it going to take longer than we would have hoped? Is it going to take longer than we would have hoped when we went into this? Yes.

“Some of us had hoped that maybe by the end of the calendar year, we would have had a new agreement. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen but I truly believe that we are going to get there because it is critical, not just to the North American auto industry, but to our economies.”

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