AFP, Washington :
Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States opened the first round of talks Wednesday to revamp the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, as the US doubled down on demands the deal be revised to address trade deficits and protect American jobs.
But Washington’s negotiating partners made clear they view the free trade deal as a success and only want to see it modernized and improved, not weighed down with unreasonable goals.
Anyone who thought Washington would put aside the tough anti-NAFTA rhetoric of President Donald Trump and get down to the serious, nuanced business of trade diplomacy were disappointed.
Instead, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer insisted that NAFTA must undergo wholesale revision.
“The views of the president about NAFTA-which I completely share-are well known. I want to be clear that he is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions, and a couple of updated chapters,” Lighthizer said at the opening ceremony.
Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States opened the first round of talks Wednesday to revamp the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, as the US doubled down on demands the deal be revised to address trade deficits and protect American jobs.
But Washington’s negotiating partners made clear they view the free trade deal as a success and only want to see it modernized and improved, not weighed down with unreasonable goals.
Anyone who thought Washington would put aside the tough anti-NAFTA rhetoric of President Donald Trump and get down to the serious, nuanced business of trade diplomacy were disappointed.
Instead, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer insisted that NAFTA must undergo wholesale revision.
“The views of the president about NAFTA-which I completely share-are well known. I want to be clear that he is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions, and a couple of updated chapters,” Lighthizer said at the opening ceremony.
