Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that progress was being made in the North American Free Trade Agreement re-negotiations amid reports that the upcoming eighth round of talks had been had been replaced with ongoing talks in Washington this week.
The Trump administration reportedly has given some ground on issues related to auto parts to beat looming deadlines.
“We are happy to engage as much as they want, to move forward towards a deal. I believe we are in a moment where we’re moving forward in a significant way. Hopefully there will be some good news coming, but we know these negotiations there’s good moments and there’s slower moments, but right now we’re having a very productive moment of engaging with the United States and with Mexico,” Trudeau told reporters in Quebec.
Top negotiators are in Washington this week, ahead of talks that were scheduled to start next week. On Wednesday, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow predicted that “positive news” on NAFTA was coming.
The intensification of the talks comes as the window of opportunity for a deal this year is rapidly closing. Mexico will hold a presidential election July 1. The same day, the authorization of Trade Promotion Authority, the U.S. law that prevents the Senate from blocking trade deals, is set to expire.
Several reports say that the Trump administration has shown flexibility on its demands regarding country of origin rules for auto parts. The White House has pushed for the “made in America” standard for cars and trucks to be raised to 85 percent of the components coming from North America, up from the current 62.5 percent, and that at least half of the components come from the U.S. That proposal has received the cold shoulder from Canadian and Mexican officials, who say such a change would harm their economies by disrupting the auto industry supply chain, which is spread across the continent.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office would say only that negotations have been continuing.
““The NAFTA countries have been negotiating continuously on ministerial and official levels since the last formal negotiating round ended in March. Officials are continuing to meet this week as the renegotiation of NAFTA moves forward,” said spokeswoman Emily Davis.
