Renegotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is lead by ministers who are expected to meet again on Thursday in Washington, pushing for a hasty progress, according to Ildefonso Guajardo, the Mexican Economy Minister.
As stated by Guajardo, he had spoken to Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian Foreign Minister, on Monday. He would also talk to the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday with plans of making a deal about the trilateral meeting in Washington on Thursday.
Following his meeting with steel industry executives Guajardo also stated that if the U.S. is to impose steel tariffs, Mexico may also impose tariffs against some countries to prevent Mexico from being used to avoid the duties.
Groups of trade experts from Mexico, Canada and the United States have been in talks for weeks with the goal of minimizing differences on NAFTA. There are 10 chapters of a revised deal in total, and are currently concluded or settled, according to Guajardo.
Guajardo and the others stated that there could be a NAFTA deal by early May. however, major differences still remain on United States’ proposals to revise the laws for the automotive sector, change dispute resolution mechanisms and other topics.
U.S. president Trump has pushed for the renegotiation of NAFTA, contending that the deal has removed American manufacturing in favor of the lower cost Mexico.
Mexico currently has a 15 percent duty on specific steel imports from countries which does not have a free trade with Mexico.