Stocks Fall as U.S.-Canada-Mexico Trade Deal Nears Deadline

Canada’s U.S.-imposed deadline to join the NAFTA-replacing trade deal between the United States and Mexico is today, and Prime Minister Trudeau has yet to give a clear signal of whether or not his country will sign onto the agreement.

Markets are reacting to that uncertainty with caution. CNBC is reporting that the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 30 points this morning, and the S&P 500 lost roughly 0.1 percent. Still, both indexes are up overall for the month, continuing the longest bull market in history.

The United States and Canada signed onto a bilateral trade deal on Monday, with the hopes that Canada would join by the end of the week. Uncertainty regarding the trade pact may be compounding existing anxieties over the U.S.’s ongoing trade war with China.

Though we’ll likely have more insight into Canada’s position on the deal by the end of the day, The Washington Post points out that today’s deadline is really more of a negotiating tactic than a line in the sand.