NAFTA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The fifth round of talks among the United States, Mexico and Canada over the North American Free Trade Agreement drew to a close on Tuesday with negotiators still at odds.
Over a week of meetings in Mexico City, officials hammered out more technical details of the trade agreement, but barely broached the yawning gaps among the three countries on the most contentious issues. Those include rules for manufacturing automobiles, resolving trade disputes and issuing government contracts, as well as a proposed ‘sunset clause’ that would require Nafta to automatically expire every five years unless the parties voted to continue it.
The lack of substantial progress was not unexpected. The top officials for each country, including United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, sat out this round of talks, deciding instead to let staff members work out some of the more granular details before returning to the hot-button issues that have threatened to derail the pact…
Nafta negotiators have come close to finalizing agreement on topics including state-owned enterprises and customs procedures. But the Mexico City round did not elicit much progress on issues like so-called ‘rules of origin,’ which governs the amount of a good that needs to be manufactured in North America in order to qualify for zero tariffs under Nafta.”
-Ana Swanson and Elisabeth Malkin, “Nafta Stalemate Persists as 5th Round of Talks Concludes,” The New York Times online, Nov. 21, 2017