CANADA/CONGRESS/MEXICO/NAFTA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s plans to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement this year looked unattainable Tuesday [5-15-18] after negotiators appeared too far apart to strike a deal before a deadline this week. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan had set this Thursday [5-17-18] as an informal deadline if the administration were to push a pact through the Republican-controlled Congress before a new slate of lawmakers arrives in Washington next year, possibly led by Democrats. The U.S. and Mexican governments had hoped to reach at least the general terms of an agreement this week to allow enough time for legislative approval before year’s end. Negotiators had sought to avoid complications stemming from July 1 presidential and congressional elections in Mexico and U.S. congressional midterm elections in November. Canada, by contrast, faces little pressure to rush. Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Tuesday that a deal was unlikely by Thursday, voicing frustration at U.S. demands for a five-year sunset clause and the elimination of Nafta’s dispute-resolution mechanisms. The deadline was a soft one, but each day after that date without an accord makes U.S. ratification of an accord this year more difficult to achieve.”
-WSJ Staff, “Trump’s Goal for Nafta Rewrite Looks Unattainable in 2018,” The Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2018 7:23 pm