Trump Administration to Open NAFTA Talks This Month

The incoming Trump administration says it intends to open negotiations over the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement within days, Toronto’s Globe and Mail reports.

Billionaire Wilbur Ross, the administration’s nominated commerce secretary, has notified Canada that the U.S. wants to discuss country-of-origin rules and NAFTA’s mechanism for settling disputes, according to the newspaper.

Ross has described NAFTA as “the poster child for unbalanced trade and investment.” He has accused Mexico of using car parts from China in vehicles it ships duty-free to the U.S. Ross also said last autumn that trade between the U.S. and Canada is “relatively much better balanced.”

Country-of-original rules determine on a product-by-product basis the limit of content from outside the NAFTA zone that may be included in a product which qualifies for duty-free shipping within the region. The White House is expected to push for tougher standards on what products may cross borders duty-free.

Trump also wants to review the independent tripartite panels currently used to resolve disputes. The Globe and Mail notes that the U.S. has long complained that the panels, which are not accountable to the NAFTA countries, have granted too much power to Canada and Mexico.