NO NAFTA DEAL YET
Discussions will resume soon ahead of deadline this week
SENIOR American, Canadian and Mexican officials on Friday ended a week of talks without a deal to modernise the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), agreeing instead to resume negotiations soon, ahead of a deadline this week issued by United States House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan.
The failure to secure a quick deal underscores uncertainty over which US President Donald Trump on Friday said “has been a horrible, horrible disaster for this country”.
Trump, who blames the 1994 pact for US manufacturing job losses to lower-cost Mexico, often threatens to walk away unless the other two member countries agree to major changes.
After meeting for barely half an hour on Friday, the top Mexican and Canadian politicians involved in the talks to update the agreement made it clear that big differences remained.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said officials would continue working, here, while ministers returned home for consultations.
“We plan to meet again as needed, which I think will be soon. The negotiations will take as long as it takes to get a good deal,” she said after the meeting.
Pressure to reach a deal increased last week after Speaker Ryan said he needed to be notified of a new Nafta by Thursday to give the current Congress a chance of passing it.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said he wants a deal in place soon to avoid potential political problems stemming from Mexico’s July 1 presidential vote and US midterm congressional elections in November.
Lighthizer said the US was ready to continue working with Mexico and Canada but made no mention of a deadline.
Friday’s talks were the first involving all three of the top officials in the Nafta negotiations — Freeland, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Lighthizer — since the latest round started on Monday.
Mexico has not agreed to a US proposal to boost North American content for cars made in the Nafta region, one of the main sticking points. Guajardo said his team tried hard during the week to bridge the gap.
“We’re not going to sacrifice the quality of an agreement because of pressure of time,” he said.
Financial markets are nervous about the damage a US withdrawal could inflict on the highly integrated North American economy. Canada’s central bank governor and other policymakers complain that uncertainty over the pact is hitting business investment.