A trade war between Canada and the U.S. appears to have been averted.
The U.S. Congress has drafted legislation that responds to Canadian and Mexican demands on meat labelling, the subject of a dispute at the World Trade Organization.
The bill would repeal mandatory country-of-origin labelling on beef and pork, should it pass a vote in the coming days.
That provision is embedded in two pages of a monster 2,000-page bill crafted in marathon negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders.
Canada and Mexico had been poised to immediately impose $1 billion in tariffs on a wide range of American products including wine and frozen orange juice following wins at the WTO.
Canada's ambassador to the U.S., Gary Doer, welcomed the news but said he wouldn't be celebrating until the bill passes both chambers of Congress and gets signed by the president.