US and Canada could reach ‘new Nafta deal’ in 48 hours

For the first time, we’re seeing a real effort by both [US and Canada] sides

Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico’s Economy Minister

MEXICO CITY — The United States and Canada have told Mexico they could reach a compromise within 48 hours on keeping the updated North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) a threecountry deal, the Mexican economy minister said on Friday.

Speaking as he presented the Mexican Senate with the current US-Mexican agreement to update Nafta — which does not include Canada, the third member of the original deal — Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Washington and Ottawa were making a “very serious,” last-ditch attempt to bridge their differences.

“For the first time, we’re seeing a real effort by both sides,” he said.

“In the next 48 hours, we will know if we are going with a trilateral agreement.”

Guajardo, Mexico’s top negotiator for “Nafta 2.0,” insisted that even if no 11th-hour US-Canadian deal is reached, a three-way deal would still be possible at some point in the future. But that would mean “going ahead with a bilateral agreement and then later defining what legal actions we would have to take to maintain the possibility of a three-way deal,” he said.

A Canadian government source told AFP that Canada’s top negotiator, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, “is in constant communication with the Americans, both formally and informally.” —