Canada is getting tough on North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations ahead of Wednesday's meeting on the issue, suggesting it could leave the trade agreement if the U.S. insists on changes to a dispute settlement mechanism.

Chapter 19 is a binational panel that settles disputes about illegal subsidies and dumping. The panel frequently rules against the U.S. and U.S. negotiators have intimated that it would seek to abolish the panel during negotiations.

"Canada will uphold and preserve the elements in NAFTA that Canadians deem key to our national interest - including a process to ensure anti-dumping and countervailing duties are only applied fairly when truly warranted," Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said during a speech at the University of Ottawa.

Freeland also said that she remains optimistic that negotiations will be a success.

Watch More with TheStreet: