What U.S., Mexico, Canada Want From Nafta Talks
The Trump administration is hoping to start talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta, as soon as this summer. Below are two big things each country would like to get out of the talks.
U.S.
-- Rules of Origin: U.S. officials want to require more of the value of the
components of cars and other products produced in North America to come
from the region in order for the products to be traded duty-free.
-- Combat Excessive Imports: Trump administration officials have discussed
the possibility of including mechanisms that allow for barriers against
any future wave of imports from Mexico or Canada.
Mexico
-- Protect Cars. Mexico has secured a much bigger piece of the North
American auto industry under Nafta and would like new rules to defend
that position against Asian auto makers and part makers.
-- Food Diversity. Mexican officials are looking to diversify the country's
source of food during the Nafta fight, looking to import more from other
Latin American countries. But Mexican consumers are vital for U.S. farm
exports.
Canada
-- Dairy Defense: Canada wants to defend as much as possible its system for
protecting its domestic dairy industry, but U.S. lawmakers want Canada to
open up to more American dairy.
-- Solving Problems: Ottawa is keen to maintain dispute-resolution
mechanisms that allow Canada's government and companies to defend against
actions by the U.S. government and Mexico.
Write to William Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 27, 2017 18:44 ET (22:44 GMT)