Experts look past Trump noise at NAFTA talks

‘Don’t react’: Canada, Mexico and USTR stick with official positions

Donald Trump may be president of the US but his words do not necessarily carry the weight of the US government at the biggest trade shake-up he is pushing. Sometimes, it is better to block them out and carry on, participants say.

Negotiations between the US, Canada and Mexico to redraw the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were clouded last week by Trump’s plan on Friday to slap 25 percent tariffs on steel imports, claiming that trade wars are good.

Participants at the talks have come to expect disruptions by Trump, ranging from his depictions of the US as a victim of Canada and Mexico, to threats to dump the 24-year-old accord he has called a “disaster.”

Several officials privately expressed frustration at his latest broadsides during the seventh round of NAFTA talks in Mexico, where Trump has regularly raised hackles by insisting on building a border wall he says Mexicans will pay for.

But they also said that Canada, Mexico and the technical staff of US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer have remained focused on the task of overhauling the accord.

“Our position on all this is: don’t react. Stick with the facts,” said a source close to the talks when asked how a man praising trade wars could be relied on to rework a trade deal.

“Stick with the official positions of the government, and above all, with our direct counterparts, USTR [and] the Commerce Department, and take serious decisions on that basis,” the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Technical discussions on one of the most contentious issues – US demands for higher North American content in autos – made no progress after the US official in charge of the issue unexpectedly returned to Washington for consultations.

Trade experts studying the issue aim to meet this week, Mexico’s chief negotiator Kenneth Smith said.

Officials concluded a chapter on regulatory practices earlier this week, and may be able to finish a handful more before ministers from the US, Mexico and Canada meet for talks in Mexico City on Monday.

By early evening on Saturday, no further sections had been concluded, said an official familiar with the talks.

The source close to the talks also expressed the view that the fact that the US remained at the negotiating table was “a win.”

“We have to be honest and say that irrespective of the political noise, we’re in a better place than we were six or three months ago,” the source said. “In other words, I think the likelihood of the US pulling out abruptly is lower today than it was six months ago.”