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WASHINGTON — Canada’s NAFTA negotiators are on a fact-finding mission this week in Washington, seeking places where compromises might be found in the new year when the talks enter a critical, potentially do-or-die phase.

Officials from the three NAFTA countries began gathering Monday at a downtown hotel for a week of meetings between formal rounds. Canadian officials say they expect less-controversial chapters to get closer to completion.

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They don’t foresee formal offers, counter-offers, and text-tabling happening on some of the hardest issues.

Instead, one official said, the Canadian team intends to try learning more about what the U.S. hopes to achieve as an end goal, on auto parts for instance, to see whether there might be constructive pathways for achieving it that all countries can live with.

“We’re prepared to have conversations to better understand their priorities,” said the Canadian official, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the talks. “Perhaps there are other solutions…. We are always prepared to think creatively.”