United States demands big NAFTA changes, setting stage for tough talks

Mexico’s lead minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, agreed that the talks should seek a “win-win-win” for all three countries – a notion recently endorsed by U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence. There’ll be changes. I think there will be an updating which we need desperately. Likewise, a 2012 survey showed that top economists overwhelmingly agreed that “on average, citizens of the USA have been better off with the North American Free Trade Agreement than they would have been” otherwise.

“If there are certain positions where the U.S.is not willing to move, we have to come to a place where we have to call Trump’s bluff and if he wants to walk away from NAFTA, well, so be it”, says Perezcano Diaz, the former Mexican trade official. “We can not ignore the huge trade deficits; the lost manufacturing jobs; the businesses that have closed or moved”. “This should be periodically reviewed”, Lighthizer said.

Mexican and Canadian leaders framed their desires around “modernizing” NAFTA to reflect more of today’s global economy, including guidelines for e-commerce, which isn’t included in the 23-year-old deal.

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, has promised to defend supply management in the NAFTA talks. It eliminated tariffs on most goods traded among the three countries and imposed other rules in areas like intellectual property and labor standards. The Administration should also work to secure the acceptance of USA automotive safety standards throughout North America to lock in rules that will promote exports of American-made autos to other markets. Under the pact now, for example, at least 62.5 percent of the total value of the components in a auto have to come from within North America in order for that automobile to move across North American borders tax free.

According to the New York Times, the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement is off to a rocky start.

In U.S. President Donald Trump’s list of objectives for the NAFTA talks released in July, there’s no mention of proportionality.

The Institute said that while these consequences could be in Canada’s long-term economic interests, they could prove politically contentious, especially if Canadian negotiators fail to gain important concessions from the US.

Lighthizer went on to note that “NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement”.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said many agricultural groups are concerned about the emphasis on creating a more equitable trade balance if agriculture becomes a bargaining chip to equal out losses in manufacturing, for example. “You know, there are some potential negative ramifications to a rule of origin thats too high” – including increasing the cost of vehicles in the United States in a way that lowers sales and ultimately employment. And that’s what we should be trying to accomplish – a continued strong relationship with Mexico and Canada would be the first thing.

Loos, who owns Quality Tool & Die, has seen what trade with low-priced countries has done to his business and others like it.

Negotiators say they would raise issues that include easing and clarifying migration rules for seasonal workers, better border infrastructure and greater integration of telecom markets. Are we going to settle them internally with the USA using its laws, but being judge, jury and prosecutor with regard to dumping products on markets or whether products are subsidized and able to operate independently?