NAFTA talks set to continue as Canada and the U.S. trade barbs

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland stood on a red-velvet covered box to reach the microphone and fixed her gaze on the back of the room as President Donald Trump’s crusty trade ambassador Robert Lighthizer took swipe after swipe at what he described as unacceptable Canadian trade positions.Then Freeland fired back.If the U.S. wanted to settle its differences on softwood lumber, or on any other points of dispute, it could come to the negotiating table and talk.Canada is “still interested in finding innovative compromises,” she said.“Our job is not to cause the dismantling of cross-border supply chains that have made our industry the envy of the world. It is not to introduce more-or-less permanent uncertainty into our investment business climate. It is not to weaken North American competitiveness, when we should be building it up.”Freeland directly challenged Lighthizer on Monday to live up to what she later called his “rhetoric” and negotiate a deal.