par Lesley Wroughton et David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that open on Wednesday between the United States, Canada and Mexico promise to be arduous, with Donald Trump hoping that the new treaty implements its “America First” policy.
The US president, who put trade and the revival of the manufacturing sector at the center of his presidential campaign in 2016, accuses NAFTA of being responsible for the closure of American factories and the relocation of jobs to Mexico where wages are lower.
Shortly after taking office on January 20, Trump withdrew the United States from a major trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and made it known that he wanted to renegotiate the NAFTA treaty.
The talks this week are being held in Washington and are led by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo.
The program for the first series of meetings, which should end on Sunday, will be mainly administrative. The parties will try to merge the texts proposed by each of the three parties, we learn from an authorized American source.
NAFTA, which the president regularly describes as a disaster, has enabled trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico to quadruple since its entry into force in 1994. Trade totals more than 1,000 billion dollars (850 billion euros). euros), according to 2015 figures.
REDUCE THE US TRADE DEFICIT
Derek Burney, a former Canadian ambassador to Washington who took part in the first negotiations on NAFTA, explains that in the last discussions, there was the political will of all parties to reach an agreement. This is not the case today, he believes.
“The question (…) is: what will Trump accept as being a success in these negotiations?” Comments Derek Burney.
For Robert Holleyman, who served as Deputy Trade Representative in the Obama administration, for the negotiations to succeed, the treaty changes will have to match Donald Trump’s goal of reducing the United States’ trade deficit with Mexico, which reached $64 billion.
“We know he wants to make changes to NAFTA. Will those changes lead to something that will actually reduce the trade deficit with Mexico? There’s no telling yet,” Holleyman said.
The United States also wants to strengthen the regulations on the origin of goods circulating within NAFTA, which specifies what percentage of a product must come from a NAFTA country.
Another stumbling block is the question of “Chapter 19” which provides for the use of binational commissions to settle disputes relating to dumping and subsidies. The Trump administration wants to remove them because their decisions are often unfavorable to the United States.
Chrystia Freeland hinted Monday that Canada would withdraw from the discussions if the United States persisted in wanting to remove this mechanism.
Mexico has said it wants goods and services to flow freely, greater labor market integration and enhanced energy security.
(With David Ljunggren; Danielle Rouquié for the French service)
–
Receive our latest news
Every morning, the information to remember on the financial markets.
