[CTC] Mexican government says a date is set for NAFTA negotiations to begin

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Whether or not that exact date is accurate, expect NAFTA negotiations to begin in mid-August…


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-germany-trump-nafta-idUSKBN19S2AM?il=0 <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-germany-trump-nafta-idUSKBN19S2AM?il=0>
 
Mexico government says NAFTA renegotiation to start on Aug 16

 
The governments of the United States and Mexico agreed to begin the process to renegotiate the North American Free Trade agreement (NAFTA) on August 16, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Friday.

"We now have a date to start the negotiation process," said Videgaray, following a bilateral meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto at the Hamburg G20 summit.

Videgary said both governments agreed the renegotiation "should be a relatively quick process" that looks to "generate agreements, at least in general terms, by the end of the year."


http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/u-s-mexico-nafta-talks-expected-to-start-august-16/wcm/46519c5e-809f-4b9e-a67a-6d69d59fb27a <http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/u-s-mexico-nafta-talks-expected-to-start-august-16/wcm/46519c5e-809f-4b9e-a67a-6d69d59fb27a>
 
Mexico eyes NAFTA deal by end of 2017, Trump hails progress
"We're negotiating NAFTA and some other things with Mexico and we'll see how it all turns out, but I think that we've made very good progress," U.S. President Donald Trump said
Reuters <http://business.financialpost.com/author/reutersnp>
July 7, 2017
1:44 PM EDT
HAMBURG — U.S. President Donald Trump hailed progress on trade after meeting his Mexican counterpart on Friday, as Mexico’s government said it expected a general agreement on reworking the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the end of 2017.

For the first time since becoming president in January, Trump met Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, whose foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, said he expected talks on renegotiating NAFTA to start on Aug. 16., the earliest possible date.

The meeting at the Hamburg leaders’ summit of the Group of 20 economies was highly anticipated in Mexico, and officials were quick to stress how productive talks had been, despite Trump repeating that Mexico would pay for his planned border wall.

“We’re negotiating NAFTA and some other things with Mexico and we’ll see how it all turns out, but I think that we’ve made very good progress,” Trump said after the meeting.

In response to a shouted question from a reporter to Trump about whether he still wants Mexico to pay for his border wall to keep out immigrants, the U.S. leader said, “Absolutely.”

Pena Nieto, whom Trump called his “friend,” said the meeting would “help us continue a very strong dialogue” on NAFTA, while his aides emphasized that they had not discussed the wall.

NAFTA underpins more than US$1 trillion worth of trilateral trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada. Videgaray, who was present at the talks, told reporters afterwards it had been a “big part of the conversation.”

Speaking on Mexican radio, Videgaray also said both governments agreed the renegotiation “should be a relatively quick process” that looks to “generate agreements, at least in general terms, by the end of the year.”

Disputes over migration, Trump’s border wall – which Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for – and his claim that free trade with Mexico costs jobs in the United States, have strained relations between the two countries.

Pena Nieto’s spokesman, Eduardo Sanchez, called in to local Mexican broadcaster Radio Formula from Hamburg, stating that the two presidents did not discuss the wall.

“That subject was not part of the conversation,” he said.

The two presidents also explored a possible guest worker program for migrants in the agriculture sector as well as the importance of “modernizing” NAFTA, according to a statement from Mexico’s government released after the meeting.
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