U.S., Mexico planning NAFTA ministerial talks on Thursday: sources

By Anthony Esposito

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The United States and Mexico plan to hold ministerial-level NAFTA trade talks on Thursday in Washington, the second such meeting within a week as efforts are ramped up to seal a deal on updating the 24-year-old accord, two sources said.

Mexico and the United States agreed last week to step up talks on revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in hopes of reaching an agreement on major issues by August.

There will be “technical meetings probably until Wednesday and a ministerial meeting on Thursday,” a Mexican source close to the talks told Reuters on Monday. A second Mexican source close to the talks also said a ministerial meeting was planned for Thursday.

“We will be there,” but it is not yet clear if the meeting will be trilateral and include Canada, said the first source.

A spokesman at Mexico’s economy ministry said there would be technical meetings this week, but said he did not know whether a ministerial meeting would take place.

Mexican Economy Minster Ildefonso Guajardo last week held what he described as “constructive” and “very positive” talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is scheduled to leave Canada on Tuesday for a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Singapore, the Canadian foreign ministry said. With the ASEAN meetings running from July 30-Aug. 4, it is unlikely Freeland would make it to Washington for the Thursday talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested he could seek a bilateral deal with Mexico, but Guajardo said the U.S.-Mexico talks would lead to discussions with Canada and “a trilateral dialogue when we get closer to the conclusion.”

Freeland visited Mexico on July 25 and she and Guajardo insisted that NAFTA remain a trilateral pact.

Talks began last August but stalled in the run-up to the July 1 Mexican presidential election. That was due, at least in part, to U.S. calls for a so-called sunset clause, that would put the deal forming one of the world’s largest trading blocs up for renewal every five years. U.S. demands for sweeping changes in the auto sector have also been controversial.

“There has been progress (on autos).” We are “working on proposals from both” nations, said one of the sources close to the talks.

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