- Title: Mexico's Guajardo sees 60 pct chance of ending NAFTA talks this year
- Date: 9th August 2017
- Summary: NUEVO LAREDO, TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) MEXICAN AND US FLAGS NEAR BORDER BRIDGE CROSSING BORDER MEXICAN COAT OF ARMS ON WALL TRUCK APPROACHING BORDER CHECKPOINT SIGN AT BORDER AREA THAT READS "CHECKPOINT FOR TRUCKS CARRYING LOADS" TRUCK CROSSING BORDER AREA PEDESTRIAN SIGN AT BORDER CROSSING AREA TRUCK NEAR BORDER AREA
- Embargoed: 23rd August 2017 03:01
- Keywords: Mexico Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo NAFTA Mexico Canada USA negotiations trade
- Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO / NUEVO LAREDO, TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO / NUEVO LAREDO, TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Government/Politics,International Trade
- Reuters ID: LVA0026TFOPXF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Mexico's economy minister sees a 60 percent probability that talks starting next week to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement will be wrapped up by a soft deadline for the end of the year, he said during an interview with Reuters on Tuesday (August 08).
Ildefonso Guajardo, who will take part in the first round of NAFTA talks in Washington starting on Aug. 16, said it was important to meet the ambitious timeline to sign a new deal before Mexico's next president takes office at the end of 2018. Renegotiation, or the ditching, of NAFTA was a key campaign promise of U.S. President Donald Trump, who frequently called the 23-year-old trade pact a "disaster" that has drained U.S. factories and well-paid manufacturing jobs to Mexico.
Reuters reported in July that Mexico, Canada and the United States wanted to conclude the talks before Mexico's presidential electoral campaign begins in earnest next year and before the U.S. mid-term elections later in 2018.
In response to the U.S. position that NAFTA's main dispute resolution chapter should be ditched, Guajardo, 60, said it was important for investors that the agreement included such mechanisms, but said he could not say what form they would take after the negotiation.
While not negotiating a full blown trade deal, Guajardo added the talks included the thorny subject of Mexican car exports to Brazil, as well as opening the Mexican market to grains from the South American nations. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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