Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United States Vice President Mike Pence meet on the sidelines of the National Governors Association summer meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S., July 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will meet on Saturday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, a White House official said on Thursday.

The meeting comes amid efforts to renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier on Thursday the talks were “coming along great” and “we’re getting pretty close to a deal.”

Trump had been scheduled to attend the Americas summit but decided this week to send Pence instead so he could remain in the United States to focus on formulating a U.S. response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria last weekend.