[CTC] Mexico’s president-elect calls for resumption of trilateral NAFTA talks

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Two articles below...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-letter-to-trump-mexicos-president-elect-seeks-common-path-1532285296?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1 <https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-letter-to-trump-mexicos-president-elect-seeks-common-path-1532285296?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1>
  
In Letter to Trump, Mexico’s President-Elect Seeks ‘Common Path’
 
By Juan Montes 
July 22, 2018
 
MEXICO CITY—In a conciliatory letter to President Donald Trump, Mexico’s president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said he is ready to start a new stage in U.S.-Mexico relations and seek a “common path” on trade, migration, economic development and security.
 
“Everything is ready to start a new stage in our societies’ relationship based on cooperation and prosperity,” said Mr. López Obrador in the letter to the U.S. president. The letter was handed to a delegation of cabinet-level U.S. officials who visited Mexico City on July 13 and met with Mr. López Obrador.
 
The communication was made public Sunday just days before the U.S., Mexico and Canada are set to restart talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. A representative of Mr. López Obrador will join the Mexican party in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
 
Mr. López Obrador told Mr. Trump “it is worth making an effort to conclude the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.” Prolonging uncertainty could slow down investment in the medium and long term, which could hinder Mr. López Obrador’s plan to spur economic growth thorough more infrastructure projects.
 
The letter, which includes a detailed description of the incoming Mexican administration’s platform, also proposes creating a development plan that includes Central American countries, in an effort to stem the flow of migrants heading north. Mr. López Obrador proposed that 75% of available economic resources for the plan be used to create jobs in Mexico and Central America, and 25% to strengthen border security.
 
Mr. López Obrador won Mexico’s July 1 presidential election with 53% of the votes and is scheduled to take office Dec. 1.
 
The letter to Mr. Trump ended with a personal reference to the two politicians’ careers.
 
“I am encouraged by the fact that we both know how to fulfill what we say and we have faced adversity successfully. We managed to put our voters and citizens at the center, and displace the political establishment,” Mr. Lopez Obrador wrote to Mr. Trump.
 
Mr. López Obrador ran against a ruling elite seen by many Mexicans as corrupt and dishonest, and his campaign platform echoed Mr. Trump’s “drain the swamp” pledge. He said he would clean up corruption much like stairs are swept “from top to bottom.”
 
Mr. Trump had a tumultuous relationship with the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, whose six-year term ends Nov. 30. The two leaders twice canceled planned meetings because of disputes over the controversial border wall that Mr. Trump insisted Mexico would fund.
 
Mexican officials have reiterated that they won’t pay for the wall, which Mexicans consider an affront to the country. The subject of the wall hasn’t been raised since the July 1 election, and Mr. López Obrador welcomed the fact the subject didn’t come up in a telephone conversation he had with Mr. Trump the day after the vote.
 
Mexican governments for the past three decades have tried to stay on good terms with the U.S., and cooperation has continued under Mr. Peña Nieto despite disagreements over trade, the border wall and Mr. Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.
 
Since their phone conversation, Mr. López Obrador and Mr. Trump have sounded conciliatory. Mr. Trump praised Mr. Lopez Obrador’s “excellent” victory and said he was “eager” to work with him.
 
Trade is key for the bilateral relationship as the U.S., Mexico and Canada prepare to resume talks to redraw Nafta after a two-month hiatus. The sides were still stuck over topics including content rules for the automotive sector when the U.S. in June imposed steel tariffs on Mexico and Canada, prompting retaliation against U.S. exports.
 
Mr. López Obrador has said he is in favor of Nafta, and has agreed with Mr. Trump that the new agreement should encourage higher wages in Mexico.
 
Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, who is Mexico’s chief trade negotiator, said last week that Mexican and U.S. officials agreed to speed up talks to try to strike a preliminary deal by the end of August.

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INSIDE US TRADE
In letter to Trump, Mexico’s president-elect calls for resumption of trilateral NAFTA talks
July 23, 2018
 
Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador has called on President Trump to resume NAFTA negotiations with Mexico and Canada, warning that a protracted negotiation would reduce investment in the region.
 
“In the matter of trade, I think it is worth making an effort to conclude the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. I think that prolonging the uncertainty could slow down investments in the medium and long-term, which obviously hinders economic growth in Mexico and, therefore, the government's strategy that I will lead that seeks to generate jobs and better living conditions for all Mexicans,” AMLO wrote in a July 12 letter to Trump <https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2018/jul/wto2018_0334.pdf> published on his website on July 22. “At this point, I propose to resume negotiations with the participation of representatives from Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Our transition team would participate in coordination with the officials of the current Mexican government.”
 
Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo is slated to be in Washington, DC, this week to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer <https://insidetrade.com/node/163756> on July 26. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is not expected to attend, sources said.
 
Jesús Seade, who AMLO has designated as his chief NAFTA negotiator, has told Inside U.S. Trade he planned to maintain Mexico’s position in the talks <https://insidetrade.com/node/163587> and that his preference was for the deal to remain trilateral. Seade will attend the July 26 meeting with Lighthizer, Mexico’s Economy Ministry announced in a July 21 statement <https://www.gob.mx/se/prensa/gobierno-federal-y-equipo-de-transicion-se-reunen-para-coordinar-posiciones-sobre-el-tlcan-revisar-temas-de-alianza-del-pacifico>.
 
Trump last week again floated the idea of separate bilateral deals, though White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the U.S. was continuing on both bilateral and trilateral “tracks.”
 
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) told Inside U.S. Trade last week that he preferred keeping NAFTA intact. Cornyn said he had spoken with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin after he had returned from a visit to Mexico and Mnuchin “was more optimistic that [NAFTA] would be resolved” now that the Mexican election is over.
 
“They really didn’t have any certainty as to who they’d be negotiating with,” Cornyn said.
 
“Canada and Mexico and the United States are integrated; our economies are pretty integrated already” he added. “So my preference would be to modernize the existing NAFTA as opposed to try[ing] something on a bilateral basis.”
 
Mexico is pushing for a NAFTA agreement by the end of August <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-23/mexico-said-to-push-for-nafta-deal-with-trump-by-end-of-august>, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
 
Seade told Inside U.S. Trade he believed a deal could be reached before AMLO takes office in December.
 
Duncan Wood, the director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, has told Inside U.S. Trade the best outcome for AMLO <https://insidetrade.com/node/163534> would be for NAFTA to be finished and ratified before he took office.
 
“He comes in December and he can say, ‘Look, it’s not my deal, it’s not perfect, but what am I going to do?’” Wood said.
 

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