Meet Canada's chief NAFTA negotiator
The first round of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) talks are slated for Aug. 16 to 20, and Western alumnus Steve Verheul, BA'82, MA'84 (Political Science) will act as Canada's chief negotiator.
Verheul has been Chief Trade Negotiator, Canada-European Union, for Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development since 2009. Prior to that appointment, he worked in international trade policy at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada from 1989 to 2009, where he worked on the NAFTA negotiations, the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. He was Canada’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator from 2003 to 2009, responsible for leading Canada’s involvement in international trade negotiations on agriculture, including the WTO.
Learn more:
July 19, 2017, CBC News - NAFTA talks: Trump administration announces Aug. 16 start date in D.C.
May 11, 2017, Reuters - Canada taps veteran negotiator to drive talks on NAFTA
