The U.S. and Mexico appear to be moving closer to a deal on a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but without Canada at the negotiating table.
News came late Tuesday that bilateral talks on NAFTA between the U.S. and Mexico are proceeding well and the two countries are getting close to a consensus on how to forge a new NAFTA deal – even though key hurdles remain and Canadian government officials have not been apprised of the latest developments.
Progress has been made during five weeks of discussions between the U.S. and Mexico on issues including rules for cars, but there’s no broader agreement on reshaping NAFTA, two U.S. administration officials said Tuesday night.
The Trump administration’s talks with Mexico are seen as an important precursor to a three-way final deal with Canada on a revised NAFTA. Earlier Tuesday, Politico reported that U.S. President Donald Trump was poised to announce a handshake deal with Mexico as soon Thursday. President Trump has expressed his preference for bilateral and separate talks with Canada and Mexico and said in a recent Tweet that Canada would have to wait while U.S. negotiators first worked with Mexico at the bargaining table.
Any handshake agreement announced on bilateral issues between the U.S. and Mexico would be the biggest breakthrough in negotiations that began more than year ago. Yet certain U.S. demands that affect all three NAFTA nations remain unresolved and could still be deal breakers for Mexico and Canada.
Key U.S. demands that neither Mexico nor Canada have agreed to yet include the automatic expiration of the deal after five years, known as the sunset clause; rules for government contracting; and methods for resolving investment disputes.
Canada has been given no notice of any deal being reached and considers several issues still outstanding, two Canadian government officials told CBC News Tuesday evening.
