10:30pm EST – The U.S. and Canada have agreed on a trade deal that would save the North American Free Trade Agreement as a trilateral bloc, according to three people familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump has approved the developments and the expectation is that an agreement will be announced on Sunday night, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian officials are working on the final touches.  (more)

All day various media have been reporting on desperate, intense, and generally fast-moving last minute negotiations as a midnight deadline looms for Canada to join the U.S-Mexico trade agreement.   Expect the critical details to be framed around “Side Letters”.  Carve-outs within an agreement which remove the contentious aspects.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland abandoned a U.N. speech to rush back to Canada on Friday night.  Tonight Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went to Ottawa to join the Canadian negotiating team in a series of back-and-forth conference calls between the U.S. and Canadian government.  USTR Robert Lighthizer and trade envoy Jared Kushner have been briefing President Trump throughout the day.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a late-night Cabinet meeting for Sunday amid signs that Canada and the United States were on the verge of sealing a deal to update NAFTA after frantic talks.
Negotiators from both sides spent two days talking by phone as they tried to settle a range of difficult issues such as access to Canada’s dairy market and U.S. tariffs.

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Someone tipped-off Trudeau.  An emergency series of last-minute phone calls surrounding the U.S-Mexico trade agreement has temporarily postponed releasing key details of the Mexico-U.S. trade agreement.  Within the granules of this most important economic negotiation, we’ll likely find out exactly why POTUS was highly preoccupied Friday.
According to Reuters reporting Justin from Canada called Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Thursday and asked him to use his influence to call the U.S. government requesting a delay so the Canadians could put a last-minute proposal into the mix.

Apparently someone finally informed Justin from Canada a bilateral trade strategy was hours away from being deployed.  Important Note: Justin did not call current Mexican President Peña Niéto, the call was made to President-Elect Lopez Obrador.

(Via Reuters) […] Lopez Obrador told reporters in Mexico City that Trudeau asked him during a Thursday phone call “to intervene and call on the U.S. government to reach an agreement” with Canada. “We agreed to that.”
He said that regardless of the outcome with Canada the language of the agreement between Washington and Mexico City was now final. “We are not going to re-open the negotiation. That you can be sure of,” Lopez Obrador said. (read more)

As with all financial media reporting on trade you have to read “through” the pro-globalist, pro-Wall Street, spin to see the more important background picture.  Wall Street, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the multinationals -together with Justin- are going bananas trying to retain maximum pressure against the White House in this U.S-Mexico deal.
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Every quarter, CNBC surveys its Global CFO Council to gain insight into the status of the current global economy.  The CFO council is comprised of Chief Financial Officers of the world’s largest 113 companies that combined are worth nearly $5 trillion.  Interestingly the council is comprised almost exclusively of multinational corporations who are generally opposed to President Trump’s MAGAnomic trade reset.
However, in the third quarter survey the CFO’s note that only one economy in the world is currently improving, the United States.

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During a U.N. press conference President Trump was asked if he rejected a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.  President Trump affirmed he did reject a meeting over the ongoing conflict within the U.S-Canada trade issues.  CTH Readers will likely remember when President Trump was going to announce the U.S-Mexico trade deal, Trump attempted to call Trudeau in advance. Justin from Canada rejected the phone call.

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Justin and Chrystia from Canada have made a political decision to reject any trade negotiations in favor of using conflict with President Trump to aide their domestic political agenda. Justin and Chrystia are counting on U.S. political opposition to block POTUS Trump from ending the tri-lateral NAFTA deal.
However, what Justin and Chrystia have not considered (nor anyone else), was U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and President Trump anticipated a political approach several months ago. No-one dissects the details within a contract better than Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. He is legendary in the business world for this specific skill-set.
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President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan discuss ongoing issues related to North Korea and ongoing intense trade negotiations.  President Trump and PM Shinzo Abe have a long history of friendship.  The U.S. and Japan have been conducting negotiations for a bilateral trade deal for several months.
At 12:55 of the video below President Trump remarks about the ongoing “con-game” being played by Democrats in the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. President Trump notes the ridiculous accusations are likely to backfire “in the mid-terms”.

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There has been a great deal of background activity in the past 72 hours surrounding the U.S. and Canada trade negotiations.  However, some of that activity has become more brutally obvious; a deal is not likely to happen.
Against growing visibility the Canadian team of Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland were intent on using opposition to Trump for maximum domestic gain, President Trump declined a bilateral meeting with Justin from Canada at the U.N. General Assembly; and today U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told a group an agreement was unlikely.
Additionally, in a video taken today during the U.N. luncheon it is clear President Trump has no time for the political schemes of Justin Trudeau. The moment happens at 02:45 of the video below:

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It is difficult to see from the video above, however in the camera angles below it is much more transparent.
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This is great. Perhaps one of the best bilat video segments in the administration so far.  President Trump is talking with President Ivan Duque Marquez of Colombia on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.   The media start asking questions that have nothing to do with U.S. Columbia relations. POTUS asks President Marquez if it’s ok to keep answering the questions, effectively turning into a mini-presser.
Relaxed and confident, MAGA President Trump delivers.  Columbia, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, Democrats, Judge Kavanaugh… etc.  MUST WATCH:

[Transcript]  – 11:32 A.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s a great honor for me to be with President Duque, who had a tremendous victory. He won by a lot. They love him in Colombia. And it’s an honor to have you with us. And I just want to congratulate you. That was a very big and powerful victory.
PRESIDENT DUQUE: Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So the people are agreeing with what you stand for and what you do stand for. Very, very powerful against drugs and drug trafficking. And you’ve been a friend to the United States, and we look forward to working with you, Mr. President.
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President Trump has empowered South Korean President Moon Jae-in to be the tip-of-the-spear for friendship-based face-to-face negotiations with North Korea with the goal of a denuclearized peninsula.
Though it was a very unconventional approach, President Trump created the foundation for stability and amicable regional relationships by fracturing the controlling influence of Beijing, China over Chairman Kim Jong-un.  Amid many international accomplishments, the results in North Korea are a truly remarkable exhibition of how the Trump doctrine uses economic power to achieve national security objectives.
During the public bilateral discussion, President Moon Jae-in carries a message to President Trump from Chairman Kim Jong-un; and President Trump announces the likelihood of a second summit with Chairman Kim in the “not-too-distant” future.

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President Donald Trump and President Moon Jae-in participate in a signing ceremony for the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) at the United Nations in New York.  Anticipated start time 3:45pm – 4:00pm EST
UPDATE: Video Added

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Fact Sheet on KORUS Available Here
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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.

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