<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""><i class=""> Trump comments and responses in a number of articles below…</i></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""><br class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="https://www.politicopro.com/trade/story/2017/08/trump-threatens-to-use-termination-clause-in-nafta-talks-161160" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">https://www.politicopro.com/trade/story/2017/08/trump-threatens-to-use-termination-clause-in-nafta-talks-161160</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248);" class=""><span style="font-size: 30pt; font-family: 'Arial Narrow', sans-serif;" class="">Trump threatens to use termination clause in NAFTA talks<o:p class=""></o:p></span></h1><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 14.4pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">By <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/staff/doug-palmer" target="_top" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">DOUG PALMER</span></b></a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';" class=""> <o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 14.4pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">08/28/2017 05:54 PM EDT<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';" class=""> <o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 14.4pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">Updated 08/28/2017 08:06 PM EDT<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">President Donald Trump said Monday he might have to use the threat of withdrawing from NAFTA to get Canada and Mexico to agree to U.S. demands for revisions to the pact.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">"I believe you will probably have to at least start the termination process before a fair deal can be arrived at," Trump told reporters during a joint press conference with the president of Finland, who is visiting the White House. "Because it's been a one-side deal for Canada and for Mexico. ... It's been unfair for too long."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">Trump made the comments as the United States, Canada and Mexico are preparing for the second round of talks on renegotiating NAFTA, starting this Friday in Mexico City. It was the <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/trade/story/2017/08/trumps-threat-of-nafta-withdrawal-loses-its-edge-161011" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(10, 124, 196);" class="">second time</span></a> in recent weeks Trump has referred to the possibility of terminating the agreement. But this time, he seemed to suggest using it as a prod to sway Mexico and Canada on the terms for remaking the free trade deal.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">NAFTA has a specific provision known as Article 2205 that allows any party to withdraw from the agreement six months after notifying the other two countries in writing that it intends to do so. Some trade experts <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/tipsheets/morning-trade/2017/08/a-legal-look-at-a-nafta-termination-timeline-024384" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(10, 124, 196);" class="">argue</span></a> that Trump would need congressional approval to terminate the agreement since the U.S. Constitution gives Congress jurisdiction over trade.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">During the first round of talks, Canada and Mexico <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/agriculture/story/2017/08/red-lines-ooze-from-first-round-nafta-clashes-160922" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(10, 124, 196);" class="">balked</span></a> at an American concept for revising NAFTA's automotive trade rules, to require that a higher percentage of auto parts be made in the United States in order for cars and trucks to qualify for reduced duties under the pact. That would jeopardize jobs in Canada and Mexico and disrupt supply chains built up over the last two decades.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">Trump reiterated that Mexico was being "very difficult" in the talks, but that that was understandable because they have had a "sweetheart deal" under the original pact. He also repeated his belief that Mexico would eventually pay for a border wall to keep illegal drugs and undocumented immigrants out of the U.S.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">"We need the wall. It's imperative. We may fund it through the United States, but ultimately Mexico will pay for the wall," Trump said, adding he hoped that it is not necessary to force a government shutdown next month in order to get Congress to appropriate funds to begin construction.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">Separately, a Mexican Economy Ministry spokesman indicated that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo may not play a major role during the second round of NAFTA talks.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">There is no plan for the three officials to make opening statements, as they did for the first round in Washington earlier this month, the spokesman said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 258.65pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 18pt; background-color: rgb(247, 248, 248); box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">A USTR official said Lighthizer would go to Mexico City for the end of the second round. A Canadian government official said he expected Freeland would also attend the end of the round.</span></p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/08/27/nafta-talks-trump-says-canada-and-mexico-are-being-very-difficult_a_23187154/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/08/27/nafta-talks-trump-says-canada-and-mexico-are-being-very-difficult_a_23187154/</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 7.5pt 3.75pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;"><b class=""><span style="font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';" class="">NAFTA Talks: Trump Says Canada And Mexico Are Being 'Very Difficult'<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(117, 117, 117);" class="">"Both being very difficult, may have to terminate?" the president wrote.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 24pt; background-color: white;" class=""><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" class=""> <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">08/27/2017 13:40 EDT</span> | </span><b class=""><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Updated</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class=""> 26 minutes ago</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump again suggested the North American Free Trade Agreement be terminated, tweeting Sunday that both Canada and Mexico are being "very difficult," but observers and political leaders didn't appear to take the threat too seriously.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard brushed aside Trump's comment.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">"I think what we have to recognize is that the negotiations are going forward. You will not hear me react to his daily tweets or statements. I don't think that would be very productive," Couillard said as he arrived in Charlottetown for the annual meeting of New England governors and eastern premiers.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Couillard says the American governors he's meeting with are eager to modernize and improve NAFTA.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">"When we talk to governors, when business people talk to each other, the feeling is quite good and quite positive. Everybody recognizes that trade is beneficial for both Canada and the U.S.A."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Trump has already threatened earlier this year to end NAFTA. At the time Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland's office said "heated rhetoric" is common in trade negotiations, her officials had little to add in response to Trump's Sunday tweet.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Sunday's tweet was the first time though that Trump has complained about Canada's role in the talks, which began earlier this month between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 12pt; background-color: white;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">You will not hear me react to his daily tweets or statements.</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard</span><b class=""><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Sui Sui, an economics professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management, said she doesn't take Trump's comments too seriously either, because these kind of talks "should be hard."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">"This is a pretty normal trade negotiation: each party fights (for) the best interests of their own country," she said. "The Canadian government is just doing their job, same as the Mexican government."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Robert Holleyman, former deputy trade czar under Barack Obama, also doesn't expect Trump to follow through with his threat to withdraw the U.S. from the trade deal. In a Twitter post on Sunday morning, Holleyman cited agricultural interests and dissent from Congress as barriers to the president's plan.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">"Mark my words. He will not pull out of NAFTA," he wrote.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Trade economist Dan Trefler, professor at the University of Toronto and senior research fellow at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, agrees that Trump's Twitter rhetoric is unlikely to translate to action. For one thing, the president is unlikely to receive the congressional approval he would need to act on a major trade agreement. "Congress has been more involved in these trade negotiations than it's ever been involved in any previous trade negotiation," Trefler says.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">And while withdrawing from NAFTA would appeal to parts of Trump's base — people who work in manufacturing jobs in states like Michigan and Wisconsin, for instance — Trefler says it would alienate Trump's many supporters in the farm belt.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Echoing Couillard, Trefler said that focusing on Trump's inflammatory Twitter posts can detract from the things his administration is doing. "It's easy for him to make these kinds of statements, because they play to the image," he says.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 15pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">"Trump has only one audience, and that's the electorate."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 20.25pt; background-color: white;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">By Maija Kappler in Toronto, with files from Kevin Bissett in Charlottetown</span></i></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-mexico-planb-idUSKCN1B92MA" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-mexico-planb-idUSKCN1B92MA</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><h1 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-size: 30pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(63, 63, 64);" class="">Mexico dusts-off 'Plan B' as Trump revs up threats to kill NAFTA<o:p class=""></o:p></span></h1><p class="bylinebarbyline31bcv" style="margin-right: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: rgb(113, 115, 117);" class=""><a href="https://www.reuters.com/journalists/ana-isabel-martinez" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="font-family: inherit; color: rgb(49, 49, 50); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Ana Isabel Martinez</span></a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/journalists/lizbeth-diaz" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="font-family: inherit; color: rgb(49, 49, 50); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Lizbeth Diaz</span></a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="bylinebarreading-time39cog" style="margin-right: 22.5pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(243, 112, 33); text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1.8pt;" class="">4 MIN READ<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.25in; background-color: white; vertical-align: middle;" class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Symbol;" class="">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" class=""> </span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt; font-family: inherit;" class=""> </span></div><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico sees a serious risk the United States will withdraw from NAFTA and is preparing a plan for that eventuality, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday, calling talks to renegotiate the deal a “roller coaster.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened three times in the past week to abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement, revisiting his view that the United States would probably have to start the process of exiting the accord to reach a fair deal for his country.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">Trump has vowed to get a better deal for American workers, and the lively rhetoric on both sides precedes a second round of talks starting on Friday in Mexico City to renegotiate the 1994 accord binding the United States, Mexico and Canada.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">“This is not going to be easy,” Guajardo said at a meeting with senators in Mexico City. “The start of the talks is like a roller coaster.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">The need for a back-up plan in case Trump shreds the deal underpinning a trillion dollars in annual trade in North America has been a long-standing position of Guajardo, who travels to Washington on Tuesday with foreign minister Luis Videgaray to meet senior White House and trade officials.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">“We are also analyzing a scenario with no NAFTA,” Guajardo said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">In an interview published earlier on Tuesday in Mexican business daily El Economista, Guajardo said “there is a risk, and it’s high” that the Trump administration abandons NAFTA.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">Responding to Guajardo’s comments, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government would continue to work “seriously” to improve NAFTA.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">Earlier this month, Guajardo told Reuters a “Plan B” meant being prepared to replace items such as the billions of dollars in grain Mexico imports from the United States annually.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">To that end, and to seek openings in more markets, Mexico is hosting trade talks with Brazil this week. Trade officials are also discussing a possible replacement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact that Trump ditched after taking office.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">Overlapping with the NAFTA talks, Mexico will participate in separate trade meetings with Australia and New Zealand in Peru, and President Enrique Pena Nieto travels to China this weekend.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">Still, attempts to diversify trade will not be easy. Some 80 percent of all Mexican exports go to the United States, and economies such as Brazil and China often compete with Mexico.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">Guajardo also suggested World Trade Organization tariffs that would kick in if NAFTA crumbled would be more favorable for Mexico, a view held by many Mexican experts who think trade with the United States would survive the demise of the 1994 deal.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">”I don’t think it’s going to make that much of a difference in terms of the trading relationship, said Andres Rozental, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister. “If we have to go to WTO tariffs, for us it’s fairly straightforward.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">Guajardo’s and Videgaray’s trip to Washington was announced after Trump not only threatened to pull out of the trade deal, but again said that Mexico would end up paying for the wall he wants to build between the two countries.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin-bottom: 22.5pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" class=""><span style="font-size: 16.5pt; color: rgb(49, 49, 50);" class="">Mexico has refused point blank to pay for a wall. In January, after similar comments led Mexico to scrap a summit with Trump, the two sides agreed not to talk in public about it.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bc3e1090-e0be-3a7d-b604-2034217e0aca" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">https://www.ft.com/content/bc3e1090-e0be-3a7d-b604-2034217e0aca</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;" class=""><span style="font-size: 22pt;" class="">Mexican ministers head to Washington after Trump’s Nafta threats<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">2 HOURS AGO by: Jude Webber<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class="">Mexico’s foreign and economy ministers head to Washington on August 29-30 ahead of this week’s start of the second round of negotiations on modernising the North American Free Trade Agreement, and after yet more threats from Donald Trump that he could pull the US out of the pact.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class="">Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray will hold meetings with his US counterpart Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser, HR McMaster in what the foreign ministry said was a previously scheduled event. “Various issues on the bilateral agenda, and recent developments regarding them” are on the agenda, the two Mexican ministries said in a statement, giving no details.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class="">Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico’s economy minister, and Mr Videgaray will meet Wilbur Ross, trade secretary as well as the US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and adviser for discussions on “specific issues of the trade relationship between both countries”, the statement said.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class="">The US president has repeated his scepticism in recent days that the Nafta renegotiation, which began earlier this month, can be pulled off successfully, and tweeted at the weekend that Mexico and Canada were both being “very difficult”.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class="">Mexico has shrugged off such talk as negotiating bluster, and the peso – which at the start of the year plunged sharply on Mr Trump’s dire predictions – has held steady. But Mexico acknowledges that reaching a deal with such a mercurial partner is far from assured and may not be possible. Mr Guajardo told a plenary session of the ruling PRI party on Tuesday that Mexico is hopeful and is bringing constructive proposals to the table, but will not accept a revamped Nafta at any price.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class="">Negotiators from the three countries gather in Mexico City for talks from September 1 to 5. According to Mr Guajardo in an interview with El Economista newspaper, Mexico hopes to make progress so that at the third round of talks, to be held in Canada, deals on some non-confrontational issues may be reached. Issues where the three sides remain wide apart, like rules of origin – the amount of a component that must be made regionally to qualify for duty-free access – will be left for later. The three sides have anyway yet to agree a common text to work from.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class="">Mr Videgaray, a former finance minister, will also meet the head of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno while in Washington.<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>