CANADA'S MULRONEY SAYS U.S. TRADE DEAL NEARS

  Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said
  "significant progress" was being made in trade talks with the
  United States and a profile of a major deal was emerging.
      Opening a debate on free trade in the House of Commons,
  Mulroney said an accord would create thousands of jobs in
  Canada and bring greater economic prosperity to both countries.
      Mulroney, who offered few new details of the talks, said
  that while the negotiations were risky and difficult, "a
  profile of a major trade deal is now emerging."
    In a 50-minute address, Mulroney made an often passionate
  defense of the initiative that he said would give poorer areas
  of the country a major economic boost.
      "Because of our trading patterns over a period of decades,
  we are in the process of building two Canadas -- one that is
  rich and promising, one that is under-developed and
  under-employed," said Mulroney.
      "What we want is to make sure Newfoundlanders and British
  Columbians and Albertans and others, that they get their
  chance. They must be given the opportunity to trade their way
  to prosperity."
      Few detials have been released on the trade talks which
  were launched nearly two years ago between the two nations that
  are each others most important trading partners.
      Recent published reports in Canada, quoting senior trade
  sources, said the countries were close to reaching a trade deal
  and it will involve eliminating border trariffs and many
  non-tariff barriers over the next 10 to 12 years.
      It has been reported a key stumbling block in the talks is
  a Canadian proposal to find a new way to settle trade disputes,
  something that would give Canada protection from Washington's
  tough trade remedy laws.
      But Mulroney, sharply critical of protectionist sentiment
  in the U.S, said Canada was a "fair trader" and denied the
  government was pursuing the deal to win unfair access to the
  American market.
      He said a trade deal must bring benefits to both sides.
      "We recognize a good deal must be a fair deal, one that is
  fair to both sides," Mulroney said.
  

