Free trade ratification delayed

Summer, and the livin’ is easy – but the new free trade deal awaits the fall.

Ratification of the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement that’s set to replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement now seems set to be delayed till November, following the failure of US lawmakers to advance ratification of the treaty prior to their summer recess beginning last week.

Canada’s parliament also failed to ratify the agreement prior to its summer break, and the prospect of a fall election means it likely won’t take place till the new government takes office. Budget processes and other legislative initiatives in the US, not to mention the election cycle, could extend the delay well into 2020.

While the existing free trade agreement means nothing will change, the delay means ratification will occur more than a year after the deal was originally struck last October.

The new trade agreement is set to come into force the first day of the third month after lawmakers in all three countries have ratified it.