President Trump on Monday announced his administration had reached a deal with Mexico on issues that have held up renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement for over a year.
At the White House, the president said the bilateral trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico should be called the “United States-Mexico Trade Agreement.” He said he wanted to get rid of the name Nafta, which he said had bad connotations.
He said, “we’ll see” if Canada can also join a proposed trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico, the two other Nafta signatories, and said negotiations with Canada would resume soon.
(More to Come)
Previously....
WASHINGTON—President Trump will make an announcement regarding trade at 11 a.m. ET, officials said. The event comes as Mexico and the U.S. are ironing out the final details of a bilateral agreement to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to a senior Mexican official.
Walking into talks Monday, Mexico’s chief trade negotiator Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters there was just “one more important item” to discuss in the negotiations. Another Mexican official said that after Mr. Guajardo meets with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday morning, both officials will talk to their respective presidents.
Not many details of the agreement will be given out ahead of talks with Canada.
“Now we are going to deal with Canada on trilateral issues,” Mr. Guajardo added.
In a sign of how seriously both sides are taking the latest round of talks, aimed at eventually forming the core of a new North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico’s top negotiators met at the office of U.S. Trade Representative for most of the day on Saturday and Sunday, rather than returning home to Mexico City.
Upon arriving Sunday at the U.S. trade representative’s Washington office just across the street from the White House’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Mr. Guajardo told reporters that he believed the talks could be wrapped up by Monday and were nearing their “ultimate hours.”
Emerging 10 hours later—after just a break to eat—Mr. Guajardo said “we’re making progress” and “if we weren’t on track, we wouldn’t be coming back” Monday.
In recent days, Mexico and the U.S. have come much closer on some of the most contentious aspects of the negotiation, including rules of origin for automobiles that establish what proportion of a car must be produced in North America, and how much must be produced with higher-wage labor.
Related
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They have also debated a proposal to exempt some industries, but not others, from dispute-settlement provisions. The U.S. has wanted to water down Nafta’s system for dispute settlement between investors and Nafta governments, while Mexico and Canada have wanted to keep it. The proposal represents a middle ground option between the two stances.
Mexico’s team has been meeting with top U.S. officials including Mr. Lighthizer and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law. Mr. Lighthizer and Mr. Kushner were in the negotiations through the weekend as well. At around 7 p.m. the pair were seen leaving the USTR office and crossing to the White House. They declined to answer questions about whether they were going to consult with the president and other top White House advisers about the status of the talks. Mr. Kushner later returned to the USTR office and didn’t depart again until around 10 p.m.
Jesús Seade, chief trade negotiator for Mexico’s incoming president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was also at the weekend talks.
Mr. López Obrador won Mexico’s presidential election in July and will take office in December. If negotiations stretch another week, the timeline for signing the new deal would require Mr. López Obrador’s signature, not that of outgoing Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. Negotiators for both Mexican factions have participated in the talks, adding additional complications, particularly as the Mexican delegation hasn’t always agreed on proposals for Mexico’s energy sector, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
Over the weekend, Messrs. Seade and Guajardo signaled they had resolved their differences.
“We are working as one team,” Mr. Guajardo said.
Mexico’s foreign minister Luis Videgaray and Mr. Seade were the last to depart the USTR office, leaving after 10 p.m. Sunday.
Mr. Videgaray said it was a “very intense day” of work and that “once we’ve finished with this phase we’ll involve Canada, but we haven’t finished yet.”
Canada hasn’t participated in the latest round of talks. While the U.S. has at times threatened to do separate deals with Canada and Mexico, those two nations have signaled their intent to complete a trilateral deal.
Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, is scheduled to travel to Europe this week, visiting Germany, Ukraine and France, potentially delaying the timeline for completing a deal along all three countries.
“The Nafta negotiations have been going on now for more than a year, and there have been moments where they’re very intense, there have been moments when we have needed bilateral issues to get resolved,” Ms. Freeland said Friday. She said Canada will rejoin Nafta talks once the U.S. and Mexico have resolved their bilateral issues.
President Trump expressed his optimism about the talks over the weekend too, weighing in Saturday morning on Twitter.
“Our relationship with Mexico is getting closer by the hour,” he said. “A big Trade Agreement with Mexico could be happening soon!”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mexico...ence-after-marathon-sunday-session-1535372909
At the White House, the president said the bilateral trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico should be called the “United States-Mexico Trade Agreement.” He said he wanted to get rid of the name Nafta, which he said had bad connotations.
He said, “we’ll see” if Canada can also join a proposed trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico, the two other Nafta signatories, and said negotiations with Canada would resume soon.
(More to Come)
Previously....
WASHINGTON—President Trump will make an announcement regarding trade at 11 a.m. ET, officials said. The event comes as Mexico and the U.S. are ironing out the final details of a bilateral agreement to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to a senior Mexican official.
Walking into talks Monday, Mexico’s chief trade negotiator Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters there was just “one more important item” to discuss in the negotiations. Another Mexican official said that after Mr. Guajardo meets with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday morning, both officials will talk to their respective presidents.
Not many details of the agreement will be given out ahead of talks with Canada.
“Now we are going to deal with Canada on trilateral issues,” Mr. Guajardo added.
In a sign of how seriously both sides are taking the latest round of talks, aimed at eventually forming the core of a new North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico’s top negotiators met at the office of U.S. Trade Representative for most of the day on Saturday and Sunday, rather than returning home to Mexico City.
Upon arriving Sunday at the U.S. trade representative’s Washington office just across the street from the White House’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Mr. Guajardo told reporters that he believed the talks could be wrapped up by Monday and were nearing their “ultimate hours.”
Emerging 10 hours later—after just a break to eat—Mr. Guajardo said “we’re making progress” and “if we weren’t on track, we wouldn’t be coming back” Monday.
In recent days, Mexico and the U.S. have come much closer on some of the most contentious aspects of the negotiation, including rules of origin for automobiles that establish what proportion of a car must be produced in North America, and how much must be produced with higher-wage labor.
Related
Trump Auto-Tariff Timetable Likely to Slip Amid Europe, Nafta Talks
Trump Threatens Tariffs on Canadian-Made Cars
They have also debated a proposal to exempt some industries, but not others, from dispute-settlement provisions. The U.S. has wanted to water down Nafta’s system for dispute settlement between investors and Nafta governments, while Mexico and Canada have wanted to keep it. The proposal represents a middle ground option between the two stances.
Mexico’s team has been meeting with top U.S. officials including Mr. Lighthizer and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law. Mr. Lighthizer and Mr. Kushner were in the negotiations through the weekend as well. At around 7 p.m. the pair were seen leaving the USTR office and crossing to the White House. They declined to answer questions about whether they were going to consult with the president and other top White House advisers about the status of the talks. Mr. Kushner later returned to the USTR office and didn’t depart again until around 10 p.m.
Jesús Seade, chief trade negotiator for Mexico’s incoming president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was also at the weekend talks.
Mr. López Obrador won Mexico’s presidential election in July and will take office in December. If negotiations stretch another week, the timeline for signing the new deal would require Mr. López Obrador’s signature, not that of outgoing Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. Negotiators for both Mexican factions have participated in the talks, adding additional complications, particularly as the Mexican delegation hasn’t always agreed on proposals for Mexico’s energy sector, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
Over the weekend, Messrs. Seade and Guajardo signaled they had resolved their differences.
“We are working as one team,” Mr. Guajardo said.
Mexico’s foreign minister Luis Videgaray and Mr. Seade were the last to depart the USTR office, leaving after 10 p.m. Sunday.
Mr. Videgaray said it was a “very intense day” of work and that “once we’ve finished with this phase we’ll involve Canada, but we haven’t finished yet.”
Canada hasn’t participated in the latest round of talks. While the U.S. has at times threatened to do separate deals with Canada and Mexico, those two nations have signaled their intent to complete a trilateral deal.
Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, is scheduled to travel to Europe this week, visiting Germany, Ukraine and France, potentially delaying the timeline for completing a deal along all three countries.
“The Nafta negotiations have been going on now for more than a year, and there have been moments where they’re very intense, there have been moments when we have needed bilateral issues to get resolved,” Ms. Freeland said Friday. She said Canada will rejoin Nafta talks once the U.S. and Mexico have resolved their bilateral issues.
President Trump expressed his optimism about the talks over the weekend too, weighing in Saturday morning on Twitter.
“Our relationship with Mexico is getting closer by the hour,” he said. “A big Trade Agreement with Mexico could be happening soon!”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mexico...ence-after-marathon-sunday-session-1535372909
