“At the end of the day, we’re neighbors,” says Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, pictured arriving on September 5, 2018 for a meeting at the US Trade Representative’s office in Washington (Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) – The 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is a reminder of the need for close cooperation between Ottawa and Washington, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday during trade talks in Washington.

“I think that remembering today, and what happened today, maybe that helps us all to put into perspective the negotiations that we’re having,” Freeland told reporters, noting the “importance and significance” of US-Canadian ties.

“At the end of the day, we’re neighbors,” Freeland said. “At the end of the day, neighbors help each other when they need help.”

Talks have been underway for a year to renegotiate the nearly 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), after US President Donald Trump threatened during his electoral campaign to withdraw from the deal he said was a disaster for US workers.

US and Canadian officials have held intensive talks in the past two weeks in an effort bridge differences over a re-written NAFTA.

Washington and Mexico City announced an agreement in late August and Trump’s administration has informed Congress it plans to sign a new treaty by November 30, including Canada if possible.

Major stumbling blocks for Ottawa and Washington remain: an international system for resolving disputes, Canada’s protected dairy industry and Canadian cultural subsidies.

“We’re negotiating all this at once. These are complicated subjects and there’s still some distance” separating the two sides, said one source close to the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe pending negotiations.

Still, “with a bit of flexibility, things could move quickly.”

After meeting US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Freeland was due to depart Washington later in the day to attend this week’s meetings of the ruling Liberal Party of Canada in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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