Trade

WASHINGTON — Trade officials representing the United States, Canada and Mexico committed to advancing the treaty that is meant to serve as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement was announced in late September as an update to NAFTA, which took effect in 1994.

U.S. corn sales to China have been part of the ongoing trade discussions between the nations, President Donald Trump said from the White House Oval Office on Feb. 19.

The U.S.-European trade truce struck last summer that has helped keep punitive tariffs at bay is at risk of unraveling, with America’s top diplomat to the European Union citing a lack of goodwill and progress in negotiations.

According to people close to the discussions, the two sides have so far made little progress on the issue that any deal Trump strikes with China may ultimately be judged on: ending what the U.S. has dubbed as decades of state-coordinated Chinese theft of American intellectual property.