Mexican Media Brands
U.S. Gets Tough in NAFTA Talks
The U.S. is insisting on major changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement as the first round of talks wrapped up in Washington, D.C.
#economics
Share
The U.S. is insisting on major changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement as the first round of talks wrapped up in Washington, D.C.
Discussions will move to Mexico on Sept. 1-5, then continue in Canada late next month before returning to Washington in October.
Negotiations got off to a hostile start last week when U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer reiterated that President Trump “is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions and a couple of updated chapters.” Trump campaigned on a promise to overhaul to bolster jobs in the U.S. or quit NAFTA entirely.
Canada and Mexico outlined a sharply different view that shuns fundamental changes but seeks updates to several operational aspects of the 23-year-old pact. Both countries strongly oppose the Trump administration’s desire to allow the U.S. to set its own local content requirements well above the current 62.5% threshold that enables goods to ship duty-free.
Alan Deardorff, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, tells The Detroit News that the Trump approach appears to assume that Canada and Mexico ultimately will accept major modifications to NAFTA rather than abandon the agreement entirely.
RELATED CONTENT
-
China and U.S. OEMs
When Ford announced its 3rd quarter earning on October 24, the official announcement said, in part, “Company revenue was up 3 percent year over year, with net income and company adjusted EBIT both down year over year, primarily driven by continued challenges in China.” The previous day, perhaps as a preemptive move to answer the question “If things are going poorly in China, what are you doing about it?, Ford announced that it was establishing Ford China as a stand-alone business unit.
-
On Global EV Sales, Lean and the Supply Chain & Dealing With Snow
The distribution of EVs and potential implications, why lean still matters even with supply chain issues, where there are the most industrial robots, a potential coming shortage that isn’t a microprocessor, mapping tech and obscured signs, and a look at the future
-
On Urban Transport, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, Lamborghini and more
Why electric pods may be the future of urban transport, the amazing Jeep Grand Wagoneer, Lamborghini is a green pioneer, LMC on capacity utilization, an aluminum study gives the nod to. . .aluminum, and why McLaren is working with TUMI.