Efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which were on hold pending Mexico’s July 1 presidential election, are back on again. The U.S. and Mexico agreed last week to speed up talks in order to get a rewrite done as soon as possible. To succeed, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada each will have to drop certain contentious negotiating positions and focus on further liberalizing trade between the nations.

First, the U.S. should drop its ill-advised “national security” tariffs against Mexican and Canadian steel. Our NAFTA partners pose no national security threat to the U.S. Once we levied our tariffs, Mexico and Canada responded in kind with entirely predictable targeted retaliation against a variety of American exports — ensnaring unrelated industries into a tit-for-tat. This self-inflicted wound has set a dour mood between the U.S. and its North American partners. Mexico and Canada will withdraw their tariffs as soon as the U.S. withdraws its tariffs.