ZCZC
BCN-27
US-MEXICO-NAFTA-TRADE
US expects to restart NAFTA talks soon: commerce secretary
WASHINGTON, July 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Talks to revamp the North American
Free Trade Agreement could resume shortly, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
said Thursday.
Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador “has changed his
rhetoric quite considerably and has made it very clear that he likes the idea
of redoing NAFTA,” Ross said.
Prior to the elections there were concerns Lopez Obrador, a left-wing
populist, would scrap the NAFTA talks.
However, he has a team working with the current government on the trade
negotiations and “we think those will get going quite quickly,” Ross said in
an interview with CNBC.
Carlos Urzua, tapped to be Mexico’s next finance minister, said after the
elections that the NAFTA talks could accelerate after the US congressional
elections in November.
US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the two-
decade-old trade pact with Mexico and Canada, and last year demanded the deal
be revised.
While officials rushed to reach an agreement before Mexico’s July
presidential election, the talks stalled over US demands, including the call
for higher US content in all autos receiving duty-free treatment in the
region.
Ottawa and Mexico also are at odds with Trump over the steep import duties
imposed on steel and aluminum, and have retaliated with punitive tariffs on
US products.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will visit Mexico on July 26 to
discuss NAFTA with the Mexican President-elect, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry
announced Thursday.
During the working visit, Freeland also will meet with outgoing Mexican
President Enrique Pena Nieto, along with her counterpart Luis Videgaray, as
well as with Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo.
Freeland will be joined by Canada’s Finance Minister Bill Morneau and the
new Minister of International Trade Diversification Jim Carr.
At the beginning of July, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with
Lopez Obrador about the common desire to “update the North American Free
Trade Agreement”.
BSS/AFP/HR/1050