International Business

Chile, Canada Open Free-Trade Talks: The two countries began the first round of negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement, officials said. The terms of the treaty will be in line with the North American Free Trade Agreement and should ease Chile’s eventual entry into the three-nation trade group. Two working groups will discuss issues that include tariff reduction, investment protection and the resolution of disputes during the talks, which will last until Friday. The countries announced that they would go ahead with a separate trade agreement after talks on Chile’s membership in NAFTA were suspended. Chilean trade unionists called on the government to include them in the talks and demanded that the discussions cover workers’ rights and environmental standards.