Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland arrives at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington on Sept. 20.

TORONTO — Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland postponed her U.N. speech as free trade talks between the U.S. and Canada intensified.

Freeland had been scheduled to deliver Canada’s address to the General Assembly on Saturday in New York, but Canada exchanged the slot with another country. Freeland may speak Monday.

A senior Canadian government official said they are making progress in the talks but said it’s not certain that they will reach a deal soon. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said Canada will only sign a good deal.

Canada, the United States’ No. 2 trading partner, was left out when the U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement last month to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. and Canada are under pressure to reach a deal by the end of the day Sunday, when the U.S. must make public the full text of the agreement with Mexico.

President Trump has said he wants to go ahead with a revamped NAFTA – with or without Canada. It is unclear, however, whether Trump has authority from Congress to pursue a revamped NAFTA with only Mexico, and some lawmakers say they won’t go along with a deal that leaves out Canada.

The negotiators are battling over Canada’s high dairy tariffs. Canada also wants to keep a NAFTA dispute-resolution process that the U.S. wants to jettison.


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