U.S., NAFTA partners plan ambitious meeting schedule
WASHINGTON — After the opening round of talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement, at least this much is known: The U.S. is pressing for comprehensive changes and racing to meet a tight political calendar.
In a joint statement issued Sunday upon conclusion of the first session, trade officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico outlined an aggressive schedule for future meetings. They will reconvene Sept. 1-5 in Mexico and then later that month in Canada, to be followed by another round in Washington in October.
The accelerated pace aims to wrap up talks by the end of the year, or early 2018 at the latest, to avoid political complications with Mexico’s presidential vote in the summer and the U.S. midterm elections later in the fall.
But it is far from clear how realistic that timetable is given the ambitious plans outlined by the Trump administration to rewrite major sections of the pact, including its much-opposed focus on reducing the U.S. trade deficit and strengthening its hand in enforcement.
“They’re the ones who said they want more than just tweaking (of NAFTA) — and they want it very fast,” said John Masswohl, director of government and international relations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, who with other business groups from all three countries was on hand monitoring the talks. “You can have it quick or have it meaningful. You can’t have both.”
Trump’s top trade official, Robert Lighthizer, launched the talks Wednesday in Washington by saying NAFTA has “fundamentally failed” and blaming it for domestic manufacturing woes and the loss of some American 700,000 jobs.
Lighthizer’s tough words were in sync with his boss’ harsh rhetoric and pledge during the campaign and into his presidency to overhaul NAFTA or withdraw from it.
During the last five days, U.S. negotiators were said to have introduced a flurry of proposals to their Mexican and Canadian counterparts. The joint statement said that more than two dozen negotiating topics were covered and that the three sides made “detailed conceptual presentations” and began the task of developing texts.
The statement did not characterize the tenor of the talks, nor did it address any specific subject of negotiations. There was no news conference afterward. Representatives of the U.S. Trade Representative did not return messages.
Although U.S. trade officials gave briefings earlier Sunday to a handful of stakeholders and were expected to update lawmakers and others in the coming days, the lack of specifics or reported outcomes gave rise to early concerns about transparency as the talks proceed.
“A closed process will lead people to assume it’s business as usual even if that is not what’s happening,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s trade program, after reading the short joint statement.
The negotiations took place in a hotel near downtown Washington. Negotiators were ensconced in various meeting rooms.
To a large extent, Mexico and Canada aim to preserve NAFTA as is, with its dutyfree trade among the countries, while updating the agreement with new chapters on e-commerce and other areas of cross-border business reflecting the new economy.
The Trump administration has talked about wanting wholesale changes, including new provisions for “substantial” American — not just North American — content on cars that qualify for duty-free trade; the elimination of a NAFTA panel for settling certain disputes; and “Buy American” preferential treatment for domestic businesses that bid on U.S. government procurement contracts.