[CTC] Lighthizer: Not enough progress made at seventh NAFTA round, with time running out

Tue Mar 6 08:19:30 PST 2018

Four articles below…

INSIDE US TRADE
Lighthizer: Not enough progress made at seventh NAFTA round, with time running out

March 05, 2018 

North American Free Trade Agreement negotiators did not make the progress that “many had hoped” would be made in the seventh round of talks, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Monday, warning that the three countries were running out of time.

Crediting negotiators for solid work in closing a few new chapters and two sectoral annexes, while also getting closer in several other areas, Lighthizer lamented that after seventh months of talks only six of “roughly 30” chapters were agreed to. He acknowledged that in such negotiations most progress is made at the end, but said that end would very soon be complicated by political pressures in all three countries – putting in doubt whether the U.S. could put a deal before the “current Congress.”

“We are at the point where we have very important decisions to be made,” he said, insisting that while the U.S. “would prefer a three-way, tripartite agreement,” it stands ready to “move on a bilateral basis if agreement can be made.”

“Now our time is running very short,” he said at the closing press event, flanked by his Canadian and Mexican counterparts. The three met bilaterally and trilaterally at the close of the round on Monday.

The three chapters closed during the round cover good regulatory practices; publication and administration; and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

Sectoral annexes on chemicals and proprietary food formulas were also agreed to, Lighthizer noted, adding that the three countries were “making substantial progress on telecommunications and technical barriers to trade.” The three negotiating teams have also agreed to include an energy chapter in NAFTA 2.0.

“These chapters are important, and provide further evidence that all three countries want to upgrade and modernize NAFTA,” he said. “But to complete NAFTA 2.0, we will need agreement on roughly 30 chapters.”

As for the more controversial chapters, Lighthizer said the U.S. continues to urge that the three countries move more quickly.

Elections in all three countries this year are complicating the talks, he reiterated, saying that the longer the talks continue, “the more political headwinds we will feel.”

Mexico's July 1 presidential election has long been seen as biggest schedule factor for the talks, but Quebec and Ontario also have elections this year, and the U.S. has midterm elections in November.

“In the United States, after an agreement in principle is concluded, our laws require public disclosure of texts, further consultations and numerous reports before it can be considered by Congress,” Lighthizer said. “Thus, in the U.S., we must resolve our outstanding issues soon to maintain the possibility of having this measure be considered by the current Congress.”

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Canada's political lead in the talks, praised the progress made in the round by the three teams and said Canada remained committed to a speedy conclusion of a better deal.

She also digressed to reiterate Canada's strong opposition to the prospect of steel and aluminum tariffs promised by President Trump last week, saying that if they apply to Canada the country will respond with “appropriate” measures to protect its domestic industries and workers.

Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo, meanwhile, pushed back a bit against Lighthizer's lament that only six chapters have been closed, noting that three were finalized during the seventh round alone – a 100 percent increase and a mark of “efficiency” that, he said, could bode well for the kind of endgame progress the USTR said was possible. – Dan Dupont (ddupont at iwpnews.com <mailto:ddupont at iwpnews.com>)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-guajardo/mexico-ministers-says-nafta-talks-should-pick-up-speed-idUSKBN1GH33T <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-guajardo/mexico-ministers-says-nafta-talks-should-pick-up-speed-idUSKBN1GH33T>

Mexico ministers says NAFTA talks should pick up speed

Reuters Staff
1 MIN READ
MARCH 5, 2018 / 3:58 PM / UPDATED 30 MINUTES AGO

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo on Monday said that negotiations to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement should pick up speed toward a conclusion.

Guajardo said negotiators were close to concluding“a number” of chapters in the pact as he spoke in Mexico City with officials from the United States and Canada at the end of the seventh round of negotiations.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-food/nafta-negotiators-conclude-talks-on-food-safety-source-idUSKBN1GH2B6 <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-food/nafta-negotiators-conclude-talks-on-food-safety-source-idUSKBN1GH2B6>

NAFTA negotiators conclude talks on food safety: source

Reuters Staff
2 MIN READ
MARCH 5, 2018 / 10:06 AM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico successfully concluded discussions on rules governing food safety and animal health under a revised NAFTA trade deal, a Mexican source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The chapter on so-called sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which addresses food standards as well as animal and plant hygiene, was agreed by the three sides late on Sunday, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The agreement came just before ministers from the three nations are due to meet in Mexico City to take stock of progress in efforts to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The conclusion of the chapter on sanitary and phytosanitary measures is a rare indication of concrete progress at the sluggish talks, and follows agreement between the NAFTA partners on good regulatory practices earlier in the round.

Tensions at the seventh round of NAFTA negotiations were ramped up last week by U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull out of NAFTA, which underpins more than $1 trillion worth of trilateral trade in the region, if it is not recast to his liking.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-lighthizer/lighthizer-raises-prospect-of-bilateral-trade-deals-instead-of-nafta-idUSKBN1GH33B <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-lighthizer/lighthizer-raises-prospect-of-bilateral-trade-deals-instead-of-nafta-idUSKBN1GH33B>

Lighthizer raises prospect of bilateral trade deals instead of NAFTA

Reuters Staff
1 MIN READ
MARCH 5, 2018 / 3:52 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States could negotiate bilateral trade deals to replace the three way North American Free Trade Agreement if needed, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Monday, adding that time was running“very short.”

Lighthizer said all parties needed to move more quickly to conclude the NAFTA renegotiation. He was speaking at the close of a seventh round of talks in Mexico City and said just six chapters of the agreement had been concluded so far.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta/mexico-economy-minister-says-nafta-must-remain-a-trilateral-accord-idUSKCN1GI1O9 <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta/mexico-economy-minister-says-nafta-must-remain-a-trilateral-accord-idUSKCN1GI1O9>

Mexico economy minister says NAFTA must remain a trilateral accord

Reuters Staff
MARCH 6, 2018 / 8:34 AM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo on Tuesday ruled out talk of a bilateral trade treaty with the United States, saying the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is currently being renegotiated, must remain a three-country accord.

Guajardo also said in a local TV interview that if the U.S. government were to push ahead with metals tariffs that included Mexico, the country would be forced to respond with politically targeted tit-for-tat responses.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

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