A top Mexican trade policy official for its incoming presidential administration said Wednesday that a rumored bilateral deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement between his country and the U.S. was unlikely to be announced Thursday. Jesus Seade, chief negotiator for Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, told Reuters Wednesday that he didn’t think a deal had been completed.
Talks have been ongoing throughout the week between the U.S. officials and their counterparts with the current Mexican administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto. Lopez Obrador won the July election, but does not take office until December. Pena Nieto’s administration has been hurrying to wrap up a deal in its remaining time in office.
“We hope that we’ll have a solution in the next couple of hours, or the next couple of days,” Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters in Washington Wednesday prior to a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. A source with knowledge of the talks told the Washington Examiner that while the two sides are close to a deal, several large issues remain outstanding.
The Trump administration has pursued a separate deal with Mexico in recent months, having been frustrated in its earlier efforts to negotiate a new trilateral deal including Canada, NAFTA’s third member. Lighthizer and other administration officials have repeatedly said that they were facing greater resistance from Canada regarding their more sweeping proposals.
The precise details of the deal were not clear, but it was known that U.S. and Mexico were negotiating the level of U.S.-made components needed for automobiles to be designated made in America and wage levels for Mexican factory workers, among other issues.
