Trade ministers from the United States, Canada and Mexico will wrap up a contentious round of NAFTA negotiations on Tuesday (17.10.2017), marked by aggressive demands from Washington that call into question the future of a pact that has been in place for 23 years.
The pProposals for a drastic overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to help reduce U.S. trade deficits have clouded the talks and some participants and analysts are wondering how to avoid a stalemate.
Washington's demands include requiring negotiations every five years, leaving most auto manufacturing in the hands of the United States and facilitating the application of import tariffs on some Mexican and Canadian products.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will meet and assess the negotiations before issuing statements at a joint event today.
Lighthizer has offered no apologies for his aggressive negotiating line, which he has said reflects President Donald Trump's desire to bring back manufacturing jobs and reduce trade deficits with Mexico and Canada. Trump has threatened to end the pact if his neighbors don't agree to the changes.
While Mexican and Canadian officials have expressed dismay at the U.S. proposals, they have taken less confrontational stances in public. Three more rounds of negotiations are scheduled for December.
"That's how negotiations are," said Vanessa Rubio, Mexico's deputy finance minister, which sends nearly 80 percent of its exports to the United States. "There are sectors where an agreement is reached more quickly and others where it is not. But let's just say that we are in the normal process of a free trade negotiation."
Canadian and Mexican officials are loosely allied with U.S. lobby groups in industry, agriculture and services that oppose Trump's proposals and are stepping up efforts to persuade Washington to water them down.
Source: Reuters
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