Opening round of NAFTA talks end amid signs schedule could slip

WASHINGTON – The United States, Canada and
Mexico wrapped up their first round of talks on
Sunday to revamp the NAFTA trade pact, vowing to
keep up a blistering pace of negotiations that some
involved in the process said may be too fast to
bridge deep differences.
In a joint statement issued at the end of five days
of negotiations in Washington, the top trade
officials from the three countries said Mexico
would host the next round of talks from Sept. 1 to
5.
The talks will move to Canada later in September,
then return to the United States in October, with
additional rounds planned for later this year, U.S.
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican
Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Canadian
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said.
“While a great deal of effort and negotiation will be
required in the coming months, Canada, Mexico
and the United States are committed to an
accelerated and comprehensive negotiation
process that will upgrade our agreement,” the
officials said.
READ MORE: Canada told to explain its oilsands
tailings leaks by environmental arm of NAFTA
One person directly involved in the talks described
the schedule as exceedingly fast, given that past
trade deals took years to negotiate.
WATCH: U of S Prof. Greg Poelzer discusses
NAFTA negotiations
The three countries are trying to complete a full
modernization of the 23-year-old North American
Free Trade Agreement by early 2018, before
Mexico’s national election campaign starts.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to
scrap NAFTA without major changes to reduce U.S.
goods trade deficits with its North American
neighbors, describing it as a disaster that cost
Americans hundreds of thousands of manufacturing
jobs.
The joint statement said the three countries made
“detailed conceptual presentations” across the
scope of NAFTA issues and began work to
negotiate some of the agreement’s texts, although
it did not provide details on the topics.
Negotiating teams “agreed to provide additional
text, comments or alternate proposals during the
next two weeks,” ahead of the Mexico round.
NOT ALL CARDS ON THE TABLE
The source involved in the talks, who was not
authorized to speak publicly, said there had been
no drama as the three countries exchanged
proposals.
Not all cards were put on the table, the source
added, saying that during four four-hour sessions
on rules of origin, the United States did not reveal
its proposed targets for boosting North American
and U.S. content for the automotive sector.
WATCH: Chrystia Freeland outlines Canada’s
objectives in NAFTA negotiations
Lighthizer had made clear that strengthening rules
of origin was one of his top priorities.
“The instructions that the groups received are
clear: Work and work fast,” said a second person
participating in the talks. “This is not a negotiation
like others we’ve been in.
READ MORE: US takes hard line on NAFTA talks,
but Canada is confident going forward: Freeland
“We will not sacrifice the
substance of a negotiation
to meet a schedule,” added
the source, who was not
authorized to speak
publicly about the talks.
Trade experts have consistently said that the
schedule is far too ambitious, given the amount of
work and differences on key issues.
“It’s hard to imagine how they can do something
very substantive and do it very quickly. It’s almost
as if you can have one or the other. You can have
it quick, or you can have it meaningful,” said John
Masswohl, director of government relations at the
Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

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