US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday a new North American Free Trade Agreement could be agreed on quickly, as Canada hailed progress on forging new rules for the auto industry, the pivotal issue in talks to revamp the 24-year-old accord, Reuters reported.
Ministers from the United States, Canada and Mexico responsible for NAFTA met in Washington to try to narrow differences on regional content rules for autos in the hope of tying up a deal in the coming days.
“NAFTA, as you know, is moving along. They (Mexico) have an election coming up very soon,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting briefly attended by reporters.
“But we’re doing very nicely with NAFTA. I could make a deal really quickly, but I’m not sure that’s in the best interests of the United States. But we’ll see what happens,” he said.
While details are still being negotiated, a new NAFTA is likely to push the region’s automakers to source more parts from North America in order to create more jobs. Such an outcome could also raise costs for Detroit’s main car manufacturers.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, leaving a 3-1/2-hour meeting with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said there was progress on autos, which she described as “the heart” of NAFTA.
“Rules of origin for autos is fiendishly complex,” Freeland told reporters. “We are very, very focused right now on digging into some of the details, being sure that there are no unintended consequences, being sure we get things right.”
She added there were other major issues that needed to be addressed in the NAFTA talks expected to continue for several days in Washington, such as dispute-settlement mechanisms.
Freeland, Lighthizer and Mexico’s Ildefonso Guajardo are pressing for a quick deal to avoid clashing with Mexico’s July 1 presidential election.
Trump’s negotiators initially demanded North American-built vehicles contain 85 percent content made in NAFTA countries by value, up from 62.5 percent now. But industry officials say that has been cut to about 75 percent, with certain components coming from areas with higher wages.