In some ways I’m surprised that the parties aren’t closer but that is often the nature of trade negotiations. In 2018, the concessions that enabled the announcement of the tentative trilateral CUSMA deal to replace NAFTA were reached just 30 minutes before Trump’s deadline expired, after 11th hour negotiations between the U.S. side (in the form of trade representative Robert Lighthizer and the President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner) and the Canadians (PMO staffers Gerald Butts and Katie Telford).