mexico

Pressure Mounting in Mexico for NAFTA Round Seven

Dan Industry News Release, Trade

A report from Politico says the outcome of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks in Mexico could hinge on U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. The question is whether Lighthizer mexicoand the administration will be willing to work with some of Canada’s recent offers and others that Mexico will likely make this week.

Speaking of Mexico, the planned meeting between President Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Washington, D.C., was canceled after the two leaders clashed on the phone recently. The disagreement came about because of Trump sticking by his demand that Mexico pays for a border wall between the two countries. That news, via the Washington Post over the weekend, doesn’t seem like it would help either side be more likely to give their representatives a green light to give some ground in Mexico City.

A former Mexican ambassador to the U.S. told the Post, “The problem is that President Trump has painted himself and President Pena Nieto into a corner.”

Business and industry sources say if U.S. Trade Rep Lighthizer doesn’t demonstrate that the U.S. is willing to compromise in spite of the disagreement over the border wall, the goal of finishing the talks at all, let alone by the end of March, feels like it might be a long way off.

From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.