OTTAWA — Trade Minister Stockwell Day is in Dallas preparing to make yet another pitch to settle the contentious Buy American dispute.

Day sits down Monday for a bilateral talk with his American counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, but he concedes the talks are "hard slogging."

Despite reports last month that a deal was imminent, Day described progress as incremental.

He likens the negotiations to lift the American protectionist measures as a marathon, not a sprint.

The issue has been at the top of Ottawa's trade agenda with Washington since last fall, when Congress began excluding non-American suppliers from bidding on government stimulus projects.

Day's bilateral meeting with Kirk comes as the trade representatives of Canada, the United States and Mexico hold their first summit on the North American Free Trade Agreement in two years.