Nafta Deal Could Move Ahead Without Canada, According to U.S. Trade Representative--4th Update
26 September 2018 - 4:27AM
Dow Jones News
By William Mauldin
President Trump's trade czar said the U.S. and Mexico are ready
to leave Canada behind in the North American Free Trade Agreement
-- and move ahead with a new version of the deal in days.
"There is still a fair amount of distance between us," U.S.
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Tuesday of Canada at a
conference in New York. "If Canada comes along later, then that's
what will happen, " he said
The Trump administration last month announced it had resolved
differences with Mexico on a new version of Nafta, and it sent
Congress formal notice of intent to sign a deal -- with or without
Canada -- in late November, before Mexico's new president takes
office.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland's office didn't
immediately reply to a request for comment on the U.S. Nafta plans
or the status of talks.
Some U.S. lawmakers and business groups have warned they oppose
moving forward with a bilateral deal that excludes Canada. Still,
Mr. Lighthizer pointed toward pressure from U.S. dairy producers
and others to improve trade conditions with the U.S. northern
neighbor.
"Canada's not making concessions in areas we think are
essential," Mr. Lighthizer said Tuesday, adding that "Canada would
like to be in the agreement."
Mr. Trump was elected with a promise to renegotiate Nafta to
help American workers -- or withdraw from the agreement entirely.
Since then, administration officials have pursued a tough
negotiating approach designed to wring concessions from Ottawa and
Mexico City.
Tensions have remained high between Canada and the U.S. Mr.
Trump used Twitter to attack Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
in June following the Group of Seven summit in Quebec. The two
leaders aren't scheduled to have a bilateral meeting this week at
the United Nations General Assembly, but aides don't reject the
idea that they could speak during the event.
Nafta talks have already missed several deadlines, but Mr.
Lighthizer said he is seeking to move ahead with the Mexico deal so
it can be signed before Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the country's
president-elect, takes office in December.
Under U.S. law, the text of a trade agreement must be published
at least 60 days before it is signed. That requirement means Mr.
Lighthizer needs to release the details of the deal with Mexico --
or possibly a trilateral deal including Canada -- in coming days,
according to congressional aides and trade experts.
If the signing occurs after the new Mexican president is sworn
in, "we have a new negotiation with López Obrador, and we don't
know where that would go there at all," Mr. Lighthizer said at the
annual summit sponsored by Concordia, a nonprofit organization that
seeks social change.
Complicating the negotiations with U.S. neighbors are the
tariffs that Mr. Trump imposed on imported steel and aluminum on
national-security grounds, as well as a threat to put duties on
cars and auto-part imports.
Mr. Lighthizer said Mexico and Canada "clearly" want to be
excluded from any auto-industry tariffs, but he said negotiations
on lifting the metals duties would come in the next stage of trade
talks, following the new Nafta deal.
Write to William Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 25, 2018 14:12 ET (18:12 GMT)
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