[CTC] Lighthizer slams Mexico and Canada for ‘resistance to change,’ announces delay to fifth round of talks

[Arthur Stamoulis]

INSIDE US TRADE

Lighthizer slams Mexico and Canada for ‘resistance to change,’ announces delay to fifth round of talks
 
October 17, 2017 
 
U.S., Mexican and Canadian trade ministers have agreed to delay the next round of NAFTA negotiations to work on bridging “conceptual gaps” exposed during talks that concluded today, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced -- saying he was “surprised and disappointed at the resistance to change.”
 
“We have seen no indications that our partners are willing to make any changes that will result in a rebalancing and a reduction in these huge trade deficits,” Lighthizer said.
 
The next round, which had been tentatively set for the end of October or early November, will be held Nov. 17-21 in Mexico City, the trade ministers announced. They have also agreed to extend the talks into the first quarter of 2018.
 
Citing concessions agreed to by all three countries during Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, Lighthizer -- flanked by his Canadian and Mexican counterparts -- said the other countries have “rejected its text here” during the fourth round, held in Arlington, VA.
 
“I would’ve thought by now we could’ve cleared chapters dealing with digital trade, telecommunication, anticorruption, and several of the sectoral annexes, for example,” he said.

Mexico and Canada, according to Lighthizer, have enjoyed years of “unfair” advantages they are unwilling to give up.
 
Reading from a joint statement <https://insidetrade.com/node/160656>, Lighthizer said the three parties made some progress during the fourth round in areas like customs and digital trade, as well as “certain sectoral annexes,” but acknowledged that “new proposals have created challenges” in other areas.
 
Accordingly, he said, the three countries have agreed to a “longer intersessional period before the next negotiating round.”
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, meanwhile, lamented what she called “unconventional” proposals that would “turn back the clock” and in some cases “run counter to WTO rules. This is troubling.”
 
Without naming the U.S., Freeland said a win for all three countries “cannot be achieved with a winner-take all mindset” that would “undermine” rather than modernize the deal.

Freeland cited U.S. proposals on auto rules of origin and dispute settlement in particular, saying a U.S. push for more regional and U.S. content in NAFTA autos would put the North American supply chain in jeopardy, make the shared industry less competitive and put at risk “tens of thousands of jobs.”
 
Freeland welcomed the longer pause between rounds, saying she hoped the extra time would produce “fresh, creative perspectives.”
 
Mexico’s economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, acknowledged disagreements and said “none of us want to end this process empty-handed.”
 
“But, in order for the efforts of Mexico, the United States and Canada to be fruitful, we must understand that we all have limits,” he said. “Despite our current differences, we must ensure that the decisions we make today do not come back and haunt us tomorrow.” -- Dan Dupont (ddupont at iwpnews.com <mailto:ddupont at iwpnews.com>)
 
Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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