[CTC] Videgaray: Ministers 'reasonably close' on a NAFTA agreement

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Politico Pro
 
Videgaray: Ministers 'reasonably close' on a NAFTA agreement
 
By SABRINA RODRIGUEZ https://www.politicopro.com/trade/article/2018/04/videgaray-ministers-reasonably-close-on-a-nafta-agreement-506892 <https://www.politicopro.com/trade/article/2018/04/videgaray-ministers-reasonably-close-on-a-nafta-agreement-506892>
 
April 26, 2018
 
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray expressed optimism Thursday night that a NAFTA deal could be coming soon after a trilateral meeting of the three nations’ top trade leaders.

“We’re working on it. But we’re more concerned with having a good agreement than a quick agreement,” Videgaray said. “I think we are reasonably close.”

A deal in the coming days is “certainly possible,” Videgaray added.

But Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, who has led Mexico’s side of the negotiations since they began in August 2017, offered a more muted take on where the talks currently stand.

“There is always progress. The point is if it’s enough progress to be really in the point you want to be — at the point where you can say, ‘Well, we finished,'" he said. "We are still in the process and we’ll keep on moving in the right direction."

A number of issues still remain to be addressed, he added.

Guajardo and his counterparts — U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland — will continue talks on Friday.

However, both Freeland and Guajardo would not confirm Thursday whether talks will continue into the weekend, saying they are taking the talks day by day.

The trilateral meeting Thursday was the leaders’ first this week. Other ministerial meetings this week, which started Tuesday, have been bilaterals with a focus on automotive rules of origin.

Negotiators from the U.S., Mexico and Canada have also been meeting on a consistent basis for the past month in an effort to bring the renegotiation talks to a close by an informal May deadline <https://www.politicopro.com/trade/article/2018/04/lighthizers-nafta-goal-a-deal-by-may-and-a-vote-by-december-480826>.

Officials from the U.S. and Mexico have long noted their desire to wrap up talks sooner rather than later, given the Mexican presidential election in July and U.S. congressional midterms in November.

 
Sabrina Rodriguez   srodriguez at politico.com <mailto:srodriguez at politico.com>
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