Trump’s NAFTA threat leaves Trudeau locked in high-stakes game of poker

The Trump administration said the deadline for a NAFTA deal was the end of 2017.

It wasn’t. Negotiations continued into 2018, as if there had never been a deadline at all.

Now, for the first time, Trump has set a ticking clock.
With his Friday decision to officially notify Congress of a U.S. trade deal with Mexico alone, the president laid the groundwork to go forward, within a month, with a U.S. free trade agreement that does not include Canada.

Trump’s move appeared to be intended to pressure Prime Minister Justin Trudeau into making concessions for fear of Canada getting left out of the deal.