NAFTA negotiators open key round of talks amid upbeat signs
MONTREAL: Officials opened a key round of negotiations to modernize NAFTA amidst optimistic signs, as US President Donald Trump said the talks were going ‘pretty well’ and Canada’s chief negotiator said he had high hopes for progress.
Trump’s remarks helped the Mexican peso stem its losses, a reflection of how closely markets are watching efforts by the US, Canada and Mexico to revamp a 1994 pact that the US president has frequently threatened to abandon.
Trump, vowing to undo what he portrays as disastrous trade deals, has in recent days expressed different views of the North American Free Trade Agreement, stoking investor worries.
“NAFTA is moving along pretty well. I happen to be of the opinion that if it doesn’t work out, we’ll terminate it,” Trump said in the Oval Office as he signed orders imposing tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines.
With time running out to address US demands for major changes to NAFTA, officials met in a Montreal hotel for the sixth and penultimate round of scheduled talks, which are to conclude by the end of March to avoid a clash with Mexico’s elections.
“We have come to Montreal with a lot of new ideas, a lot of creative strategies to try to bridge some of the gaps in the negotiations,” Canadian chief negotiator Steve Verheul told reporters, adding that he had ‘high hopes’ of progress.