Mexico to walk away if US triggers NAFTA withdrawal process

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Wednesday that Mexico will leave the negotiating table if US President Donald Trump goes ahead with a threat to start the process of withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

On Monday, Trump said he would probably need to terminate NAFTA to get what he considers a fair trade deal with economic partners Mexico and Canada, and revisited his campaign promise that Mexico would pay for a border wall.

Asked in Washington if Mexico would continue negotiating if Trump pulled the trigger on the six-month process of withdrawing from the trade deal, Videgaray responded with an emphatic “No.”

Videgaray said he, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross agreed on Wednesday to continue with a “serious” renegotiation process. At about the same time, during a speech at a Missouri factory, Trump repeated his threat to shred the deal.

Canada is bracing for a possible US withdrawal from the tripartite North American Free Trade Agreement, a source said Wednesday, ahead of the next round of negotiations due to start in Montreal later this month.

“The Canadian government is aware of the possibility that President Trump may announce the United States’ withdrawal from NAFTA,” a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

In the meantime, the official said, the government is moving ahead with plans to host US and Mexican trade negotiators in Montreal January 23-28.

The US, Canada and Mexico previously gave themselves a March deadline to finish talks.

A clause in NAFTA allows any of the three countries to withdraw from the deal after giving 180 days notice, and Trump has previously flirted with the idea of starting that process to ramp up pressure on the other trade partners.

Some experts in the US argue that Trump would not be legally allowed to leave NAFTA without the approval of Congress.