Protecting workers key to NAFTA success: Trudeau

AFP, MEXICO CITY: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that a new North American Free Trade Agreement must better protect workers and the middle class, acknowledging the malaise that has fueled Donald Trump’s attacks on the deal.

Addressing the Mexican senate at the close of a North American tour that saw him spar with the US president over trade, Trudeau acknowledged the anti-globalisation sentiment that Trump has successfully tapped among the American middle class.

“In our increasingly globalised society, we see people who are scared of being left behind. Isolationism is taking hold in too many corners of the world,” he said.

“As leaders, we must stay squarely focused on the middle class and those working hard to join it.”

His message came as negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico huddled outside Washington for their latest round of talks on updating NAFTA.

Protecting workers key to NAFTA success: Trudeau

AFP, MEXICO CITY: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that a new North American Free Trade Agreement must better protect workers and the middle class, acknowledging the malaise that has fueled Donald Trumps attacks on the deal. Addressing the Mexican senate at the close of a North American tour that saw him spar with the US president over trade, Trudeau acknowledged the anti-globalisation sentiment that Trump has successfully tapped among the American middle class. In our increasingly globalised society, we see people who are scared of being left behind. Isolationism is taking hold in too many corners of the world, he said. As leaders, we must stay squarely focused on the middle class and those working hard to join it. His message came as negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico huddled outside Washington for their latest round of talks on updating NAFTA.