President Donald Trump said negotiations with Mexico on a new NAFTA are โcoming along nicely,โ while telling Canada it will have to wait to re-enter the talks to modernize the three-nation trade pact โ hinting at his preference for bilateral negotiations, which is the process of making offers by the two parties with the aim of finding an acceptable agreement.
โDeal with Mexico is coming along nicely. Autoworkers and farmers must be taken care of or there will be no deal,โ Trump tweeted, adding that incoming Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador โhas been an absolute gentleman.โ
Trump had harsher words for Canada, the other partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement. โCanada must wait. Their tariffs and trade barriers are far too high. Will tax cars if we canโt make a deal!โ he said.
The U.S. and Mexico have enjoyed extra goodwill since Obrador was elected in July. Obrador wonโt take office until Dec. 1, and heโs believed to be keen for the transitional government to clinch a deal with the U.S. before then so his party can maintain some distance from a revamped agreement.
Relations with Canada have been tense since Juneโs Group of Seven meeting in Quebec, when Trump renounced support for the summitโs communique and took parting shots at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for promising to stand up to U.S. tariffs.
Trump has said recently he might prefer to end the NAFTA pact in favour of separate, bilateral agreements with Canada and Mexico.
โI wouldnโt mind seeing Nafta where you go by a different name, where you make a separate deal with Canada and a separate deal with Mexico. Because youโre talking about a very different two countries,โ Trump said on June 1.
Larry Kudlow, the White House economic adviser, said Trump doesnโt want to withdraw from Nafta but โprefers bilateral negotiationsโ and wants to try a different approach.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo have been meeting in Washington, with talks focused on rules for how much North American content should be included in cars, a pivotal issue in the discussions.
โEvery day for the last few weeks weโve been making a lot of advancements, and weโll come back next week,โ Guajardo told reporters on Friday. โWeโll keep working.โ
Canada could soon return to the talks, its ambassador to the U.S. said this week.
While a three-way NAFTA deal is still possible if all nations show flexibility, Canada still opposes U.S. proposals for a sunset clause on the agreement and wants an independent dispute-resolution process, said David MacNaughton, Canadaโs Ambassador to the United States
