The Trump administration is seeking to stop the EU, UK and Japan from striking separate trade deals with China as it tries to impose economic isolation on its Asian rival.
The US’s revamped Nafta trade deal with Canada and Mexico includes a provision that would require its two neighbours to give notification of any trade negotiations with a “non-market economy”. That clause could also force those countries to disclose details of any talks and allow Washington to walk away from the Nafta agreement if such a separate deal were completed.
The measure triggered a backlash in Canada, where critics said it enshrined a loss of sovereignty for Ottawa and limited its own trade policy.