Nafta Talks Lurch Ahead Without Signs of Major Progress
Echoing comments made recently by Vice President Mike Pence, Ms. Freeland said she was confident
that the three countries could find a way to reach a deal that is a “win, win, win.”
“All three parties are absolutely committed to getting this done,” Ms. Freeland said.
12-month moving average
Ms. Freeland noted in her closing remarks that Nafta had yielded substantial economic benefits for the United States since it was enacted in 1994 and said
that the trade relationship between the United States and Canada was “reciprocal,” a principle that Mr. Trump prizes.
After five days of discussions in Mexico City, trade negotiators from the three countries said they were encouraged by the talks’ cooperative tenor
and remained confident that they could reach a deal by the end of the year.
“Our work continues at a record pace.”
In a joint statement, Mr. Lighthizer and his counterparts — Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland, and Mexico’s secretary of the economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal — said
that they had hashed out new ideas and consolidated existing proposals into a single text that will be the basis for future negotiations.
Thus far, Canada and Mexico have made it clear that they will not be cowed by Mr. Trump’s threats to unilaterally scrap the trade agreement, a move
that would most likely damage the United States economy.
