<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=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Politico Pro<o:p class=""></o:p></span></i></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Videgaray: Ministers 'reasonably close' on a NAFTA agreement<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">By SABRINA RODRIGUEZ <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/trade/article/2018/04/videgaray-ministers-reasonably-close-on-a-nafta-agreement-506892" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">https://www.politicopro.com/trade/article/2018/04/videgaray-ministers-reasonably-close-on-a-nafta-agreement-506892</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">April 26, 2018<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">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.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">“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.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">A deal in the coming days is “certainly possible,” Videgaray added.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">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.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">“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."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">A number of issues still remain to be addressed, he added.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Guajardo and his counterparts — U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland — will continue talks on Friday.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">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.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">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.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">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 <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/trade/article/2018/04/lighthizers-nafta-goal-a-deal-by-may-and-a-vote-by-december-480826" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(10, 124, 196); text-decoration: none;" class="">informal May deadline</span></a>.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 258.65pt 12pt 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18pt; background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">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.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Sabrina Rodriguez <a href="mailto:srodriguez@politico.com" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">srodriguez@politico.com</a></span></i></div></body></html>