ottawa<u+2014>canadian prime minister justin trudeau said friday he is confident the next u.s. president will realize the importance of keeping intact the north american free trade agreement. <u+201c>there will always be people that will point to certain changes and challenges, and make causal correlations and blame, but the fact is trade is important,<u+201d> mr. trudeau said at a thomson reuters event in toronto. his comments on the trade deal between canada, the u.s. and mexico come amid heightened antitrade rhetoric during the u.s. presidential campaign. republican presidential nominee donald trump has said he would seek to renegotiate nafta , describing it as <u+201c>the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere.<u+201d> democratic nominee hillary clinton has said she would stop any trade pact that <u+201c>kills jobs or holds down wages,<u+201d> and chief among them would be the proposed trans-pacific partnership. mr. trudeau said he knows that <u+201c>rhetoric gets heated in election campaigns, but the fact is nafta has been incredibly good for all three of our economies, and workers across the economies.<u+201d> he is <u+201c>not overly worried<u+201d> about the fate of nafta in the hands of the next president, he said. <u+201c>when looking at the actual numbers and actual facts, they will see that canadians, americans and everyone has benefited<u+201d> from the trade deal, he said. canada has seen strong gains in cross-border investment since nafta came into force in the mid-1990s. u.s. and mexican investments in canada have tripled, with u.s. investment<u+2014>which accounts for more than half of canada<u+2019>s foreign direct investments<u+2014>expanding to roughly $368 billion, according to estimates from a washington think tank, the council for foreign relations. canadian government data indicate u.s. cash has focused on such areas as oil-and-gas exploration, manufacturing and financial services. mr. trudeau<u+2019>s optimism is in contrast to previous warnings from canadian officials. last month in washington, canadian trade minister chrystia freeland warned that <u+201c>we are living right now in what i would say is the most protectionist climate in the united states in my lifetime, probably since the second world war.<u+201d> that general environment <u+201c>certainly complicates any trade negotiations,<u+201d> she added. on another trade front, the canadian and u.s. governments are at an impasse over lumber . there<u+2019>s a deadline to reach a new lumber trade deal by next week, and canadian and u.s. authorities say fundamental disagreements remain. ms. freeland has said canada is prepared to fight the u.s. through global trade tribunals. on a related matter, mr. trudeau also warned on friday that a failure by europe to ratify and i mplement its free-trade deal with canada would cast doubt about the future of the european union. <u+201c>with brexit questions being asked more generally, it<u+2019>s really important to demonstrate that the eu is able to sign important trade deals,<u+201d> he said. if the eu is unable to approve the deal with canada, <u+201c>then there are big questions people will have to ask about how relevant the eu continues to be as a political entity,<u+201d> he added. the deal between the eu and canada, also known as ceta, has run into difficulties against a backdrop of flagging political support and growing public opposition to the deal as anti-globalization sentiment intensifies across the bloc. write to paul vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
canada<u+2019>s trudeau confident nafta trade deal will survive    - wsj
paul vieira