In attendance for the first North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation meeting, held August 16-20, were US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo.
From the onset, US officials pushed for major changes to the 1994 agreement during initial negotiations with their counterparts from Canada and Mexico that wrapped up on Sunday. Lighthizer said in opening remarks of the five-day negotiation that President Donald Trump is seeking “wholesale changes to the trade agreement not just tweaking of a few provisions” of NAFTA. He referenced lost jobs in the US and an excessive trade deficit with Mexico. The Canadian representative noted that Canada has a balanced trade position with the US while Mexico defended the mutual benefits of the original agreement. All three countries pledged to “modernize” the trade deals in an “accelerated and comprehensive process” as they presented their different perspectives on the agreement.
Some observers believe that evident economic gains for each country from NAFTA may allow the US to achieve concessions while others are concerned that the tone may halt progress during the upcoming segments of the negotiations. Most commentators agree that given the expressed possibility of the US leaving NAFTA if some concessions are not achieved, the partners will allow for changes.
A second round of NAFTA talks has been scheduled for September 1-5 in Mexico, with a third meeting in Canada in late September and a return to the US in October.
Rules of origin will be a major topic of discussion in future talks. Automakers have tried to lobby against changes to rules of origin, arguing such changes would likely increase the price of vehicles imported into the US. Additionally, US border towns are strongly lobbying against changes that could affect their border economies.