Mexico Says NAFTA's Environment Chapter Close to Finished; Good Probability of Resolving Key Issues Next Week
The negotiating parties are close to agreement on an environment chapter in NAFTA, Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said after a negotiation session in Washington on Aug. 2. The Mexican team met again with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for almost two hours Aug. 3, and Guajardo told reporters there's a very good probability the two sides can resolve key issues next week, Reuters reported.
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"There [are] at least 20 items that have been worked through, and there is very much advancement in all of them," he told reporters outside the USTR building. One of the discussions touched on changing U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws to allow growers to bring cases against Mexican fruits and vegetables based on prices across a three-month period. The change would also allow a complaint to be started by, say, tomato producers in Florida, rather than a majority nationwide (see 1709130031). The sides also have been negotiating on auto rules of origin, he said.
One of the controversial American asks that was not talked about is a sunset clause. "I have to be very frank with you, we have been here discussing many items in two weeks, and we have not even touched the concept of sunset," Guajardo said. He reassured a Canadian reporter that Canada's absence from these ministerial talks "doesn't have any implication about the nature of a trilateral agreement."