U.S. shift reported at NAFTA session

The U.S., Canada and Mexico are making headway on the key North American Free Trade Agreement issue of auto rules, sending the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso higher in the latest sign of progress in monthslong talks.

There are indications the U.S. is willing to budge on one of its core demands as President Donald Trump pushes to get a deal ahead of Mexican elections in July. One person familiar with the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Americans are showing flexibility on a demand for a 50 percent U.S.-content requirement, but it hasn’t been formally withdrawn. Another person familiar cautioned against being too confident in how the U.S. will proceed.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Wednesday that his goal was to bring auto manufacturing jobs back home, but he didn’t address the U.S.-specific content requirement.

“We are in a position where we’re finally starting to converge” on autos, he told lawmakers in Washington. “I can’t really say exactly what’s going to end up happening but I think we’re in a pretty good place.”

The Mexican peso had its biggest advance since June on the news, while Canada’s dollar rose the most since Dec. 1. The yield on Canada’s twoyear government bonds rose to the highest in nearly seven years.