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NAFTA negotiators trade barbs even as they agree to extend talks

Other News Materials 18 October 2017 03:11 (UTC +04:00)
Trade negotiators from the United States and Canada accused each other of sabotaging attempts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement on Tuesday, even as they and Mexico agreed to extend talks into 2018.
NAFTA negotiators trade barbs even as they agree to extend talks

Trade negotiators from the United States and Canada accused each other of sabotaging attempts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement on Tuesday, even as they and Mexico agreed to extend talks into 2018, Reuters reported.

A round of talks in Washington that lasted seven days failed to find the most basic common ground between the three parties, and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland accused the United States of pursuing a “winner take all” approach.

The Trump administration’s proposals to reshape NAFTA to help shrink U.S. trade deficits have created stumbling blocks, leaving observers to wonder whether it intends to sink the agreement.

Washington’s demands, previously identified as red lines by its neighbors, include forcing renegotiating the pact every five years, reserving the lion’s share of automotive manufacturing for the United States and making it easier to pursue import barriers against some Canadian and Mexican goods.

“As difficult as this has been, we have seen no indication that our partners are willing to make any changes that will result in a rebalancing and a reduction in these huge trade deficits,” said Washington’s negotiator, Robert Lighthizer.

News of the talks' extension through to the first quarter of next year, from the end of this year, lifted the Mexican peso MXN=D2 1.2 percent after a volatile day of trading. The peso has fallen 7 percent since July on expectations that NAFTA would not survive.

Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo struck a more positive tone than both Freeland and Lighthizer, saying the extension of the talks showed the three parties were “giving ourselves an opportunity to find a solution”.

Despite the tension at the talks, Mexican and Canadian officials have stressed that their governments will not walk away from the table. The talks are now scheduled to resume in Mexcio City on Nov. 17-21.

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