<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=""><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/27/us-mexico-reach-partial-agreement-resolve-trade-conflict-step-towards-nafta-deal/?utm_term=.8043adce91be" class="OWAAutoLink" id="LPlnk863100" previewremoved="true" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif, serif, EmojiFont;">https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/27/us-mexico-reach-partial-agreement-resolve-trade-conflict-step-towards-nafta-deal/?utm_term=.8043adce91be</a><br class=""><div class=""><div style="font-size: 15px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe WP', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; margin: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif, serif, EmojiFont;" class="">Trump announces separate U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, says Canada may join later</span></div><div style="font-size: 15px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe WP', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; margin: 0px;" class=""><font size="2" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt;" class=""><font size="3" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif, serif, EmojiFont;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> <div class="author-sig-line" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: FranklinPro, FranklinITCProLight, 'Franklin Gothic Medium', 'Franklin Gothic', 'ITC Franklin Gothic', 'Apple SD Gothic Neo', 'Myriad Set Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica Neue Light', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"><div class="multiple author-byline" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="author-wrapper" data-authorname="David J. Lynch" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="author-info" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; float: left;"><span class="by-lbl" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By</span> <a class="author-name" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/david-j-lynch/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(25, 85, 165); font-weight: bold;">David J. Lynch</a></div><div class="author-role" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, Reporter</div></div><div class="author-wrapper" data-authorname="Damian Paletta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="author-info" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; float: left;"><a class="author-name" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/damian-paletta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(25, 85, 165); font-weight: bold;">Damian Paletta</a></div><div class="author-role" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, Reporter</div></div><div class="author-wrapper" data-authorname="Erica Werner" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="author-info" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; float: left;"><a class="author-name" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/erica-werner/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(25, 85, 165); font-weight: bold;">Erica Werner</a></div><div class="author-role" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, Reporter</div></div></div></div><span class="author-timestamp" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-08-27T11:47-500" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: FranklinPro, FranklinITCProLight, 'Franklin Gothic Medium', 'Franklin Gothic', 'ITC Franklin Gothic', 'Apple SD Gothic Neo', 'Myriad Set Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica Neue Light', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">August 27 at 11:47 AM</span></span></font></span></font></div><div style="font-size: 15px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe WP', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; margin: 0px;" class=""><font size="2" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt;" class=""><font size="3" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif, serif, EmojiFont;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span></font></span></font></div><div style="font-size: 15px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe WP', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; margin: 0px;" class=""><p data-elm-loc="1" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">President Trump announced Monday that the United States has reached agreement with Mexico on a new trade deal that he declared will not be called NAFTA -- a name he said has bad connotations.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="2" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">“It’s a big day for trade. It’s a big day for our country,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office to watch him speak by phone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="3" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Trump said he would see if Canada could be part of the deal, but that a separate deal with Canada was possible. That would amount to the biggest change yet in U.S. trade policy under the Trump administration if Trump rips up the North American Free Trade Agreement and replaces it with a bilateral deal with Mexico.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="4" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Trump referred to the possible new deal as the United States-México trade agreement.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="5" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to arrive in Washington later Monday or Tuesday morning. The aim had been to have a “handshake deal” among the three countries for a new free trade agreement by the close of business Friday, an official familiar with the talks said.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="6" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">A spokesman for Freeland said Canada was “encouraged by the continued optimism shown by our negotiating partners" but made clear that a final agreement would require careful review and more discussions.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="7" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">“We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class,” the spokesman said. “Canada’s signature is required.”</span></p><p data-elm-loc="8" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">If Canada doesn’t sign off, it is unclear what Trump might do, as he has threatened to try to cancel the entire trade pact.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="9" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">But if Canada does agree to a new deal, it would allow Trump to officially notify Congress that a deal had been reached, starting a 90-day clock under the rules governing the American president’s trade negotiating authority and allowing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to sign the deal before his successor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, takes office Dec. 1.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="10" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">López Obrador has been supportive of the negotiations but would be likely to seek changes if the treaty is not completed before he assumes the presidency. His concerns about cementing Mexico’s energy privatization in a new NAFTA were among the final sticking points in the talks.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="11" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">With only five days remaining for the United States and Canada to iron out their differences, negotiators realize they have exhausted all their wiggle room. “Realistically, it’s certainly tight,” the official said.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="12" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Larry Herman, a Toronto trade lawyer and former Canadian trade negotiator, said Canada has “every right” to examine the details of what was agreed to between Mexico and the United States and will then decide how to proceed.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="13" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">“I think it’s appalling that Canada has been kept at arm’s length from these talks over the past number of weeks,” Herman said.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="14" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">While Herman said he would expect Canada to resume participation in the talks, “there’s no way a NAFTA agreement can be ready for signature by the end of this month. It’s not going to happen.”</span></p><p data-elm-loc="15" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">White House officials had insisted that the new NAFTA deal would have to expire after five years, a sunset demand that both Canada and Mexico had rejected in recent weeks. It could not be learned whether Trump administration officials had backed down from this demand or whether it would be part of the final discussions.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="16" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Trump has made renegotiating NAFTA a centerpiece of his economic and foreign policy agenda, arguing that the aging trade deal disadvantages American workers by luring U.S. jobs and companies overseas.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="17" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">This approach has alarmed many Republicans, who support NAFTA’s free trade roots and worried about how Trump’s approach would impact farmers. But Democrats have mostly been split, as some agreed with Trump’s focus on manufacturing jobs but others worried about Trump’s take-it-or-leave-it negotiating style.</span></p><span style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Even if Trump cuts a final deal with Mexico and Canada, Congress will likely have to vote to approve any changes.</span><br class=""></div><div style="font-size: 15px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe WP', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; margin: 0px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18.92px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="font-size: 15px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe WP', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; margin: 0px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18.92px;" class=""><p data-elm-loc="20" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">In an effort to force both Mexico and Canada to agree to a new deal, Trump has imposed tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from their countries and suggested that he would waive these tariffs only if they make concessions as part of a new trade deal.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="21" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Talks have dragged on for months, at times becoming quite personal, particularly when Trump hurled a series of insults at Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, leading many to believe that a deal would ultimately prove out of reach.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="22" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">But it was Mexico that offered Trump the best opening in recent weeks.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="23" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">In recent days, U.S. and Mexican diplomats reached agreement on key elements of a new treaty, including an increase in the percentage of </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-officials-weigh-25-percent-tax-on-imported-cars-in-a-bid-to-force-concessions-in-nafta-trade-talks/2018/05/23/76e72172-5eca-11e8-b2b8-08a538d9dbd6_story.html?utm_term=.f4db48d0ebbd" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(44, 108, 180); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">each car</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class=""> -- to 75 percent from the current 62.5 percent -- that must be made in North America to qualify for duty-free treatment.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="24" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">The two sides agreed to a provision that would require a significant portion of each vehicle to be made in high-wage factories, a measure aimed at discouraging factory jobs from leaving the United States for Mexico.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="25" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Negotiators also resolved a dispute over how to treat cars and trucks produced in Mexican plants that do not comply with the new treaty’s content rules. American companies importing those vehicles will pay a 2.5 percent tariff.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="26" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">“What most of us are focused on now is: what happens next?” said Dan Ujczo, a trade attorney with Dickinson Wright.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="27" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Having resolved their major sticking points with Mexico, the </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-renews-threat-to-tie-border-crossings-to-new-nafta-deal/2018/04/23/54ca4aa6-46dd-11e8-8b5a-3b1697adcc2a_story.html?utm_term=.cc6d8e7cbbfc" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(44, 108, 180); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Trump</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class=""> administration is now expected to press Canada to accept quickly the consensus terms. But Trudeau, whom Trump criticized in harsh terms following the Group of Seven summit in Quebec in June, does not want to be viewed at home as conceding to the unpopular American president.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="28" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">“Can we actually get a deal done with Canada when they’re negotiating with a gun to their head and a ticking clock?” Ujczo said. “Canada’s got some choices to make.”</span></p><p data-elm-loc="29" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Trump has been</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/05/president-trump-said-canada-mistreats-u-s-farmers-this-is-what-he-meant/?utm_term=.304385d0b75b" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(44, 108, 180); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213);" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class=""> critical of Canada’s dairy management system,</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class=""> which restricts imports of poultry, eggs and dairy products to provide Canadian farmers high prices.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="30" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Another long-standing point of contention was the U.S. demand that the treaty sunset every five years unless explicitly reauthorized by the three governments. Business leaders complain such language would make it too difficult to plan future investments.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="31" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">“The competitiveness of North America will be diminished if companies fear the rules are at risk of constant change,” the Information Technology Industry Council said Friday. “These potential provisions risk jeopardizing the incentives for businesses to innovate, invest, hire, and produce across North America.”</span></p><p data-elm-loc="32" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">The NAFTA renegotiation has been a rocky one. The president over the past year repeatedly lambasted the original 1994 treaty, calling it a “bad joke” and blaming it for the loss of millions of American factory jobs.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="33" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">One year ago, U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer kicked off the negotiations by calling for a major overhaul of trade rules to take account of nearly a quarter-century of economic changes and to rectify the imbalance in trade between the United States and its southern neighbor.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="34" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Trump, he said, was “not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions.”</span></p><p data-elm-loc="35" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Though trade deals are complex affairs that typically require years of glacial bargaining, administration officials initially hoped to finish the job by the end of 2017. They failed to meet that ambitious timetable and also blew through revised deadlines for the end of March and late May.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="36" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">This time, the deadline may be real, given a congressional requirement for 90 days notice of an impending trade deal. If the administration doesn’t formally notify Congress that it has reached agreement with both Canada and Mexico by the end of August, Peña Nieto, the outgoing Mexican president, will not be able to sign it.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="37" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Negotiators want to get a deal wrapped up before López Obrador, who might demand additional changes, takes office.</span></p><p data-elm-loc="38" style="margin: 4px 0px 18px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">Alan Freeman in Ottawa contributed to this report.</span></i></p><div class=""><i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 18.92px; vertical-align: baseline;" class=""><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12pt;" class=""><br class=""></span></i></div></span></div></div></body></html>