INTERNATIONAL

Trade Pact Talks Continue: Negotiators for Canada, Mexico and the United States continued marathon talks to try to complete a deal to establish a continental free trade zone. A U.S. official said she hoped that the talks were in their final day but added: “We have hoped that for several days.” Top negotiators have been huddled at the Watergate Hotel in Washington since late July trying to work out the complex pact to dismantle trade barriers and bring Mexico into the existing U.S.-Canada free trade zone. Sticking points are the phase-out period for tariffs, determining the domestic content of cars for duty-free treatment, establishing a system to settle disputes and some intellectual property issues, U.S. officials said. The deal, which must be scrutinized by lawyers and private sector advisory panels once it is completed, then faces a vote in Congress. Congress probably will not vote on the pact until next year.