NAFTA Talks Unlikely To Be Concluded In August - Mexican Economy Minister

NAFTA Talks Unlikely to Be Concluded in August - Mexican Economy Minister

Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo expressed on Thursday his doubts that talks on modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would be finished in August, as had been previously planned.

MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2018) Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo expressed on Thursday his doubts that talks on modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would be finished in August, as had been previously planned.

Canada, Mexico and the United States have been engaged in talks for exactly a year at the initiative of US President Donald Trump. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have said that the negotiations might be finished in August.

"Our aim is to continue the talks, try to solve problems, but we can not guarantee [that the process will end this month]," Guajardo said, as cited by the Financiero portal after a new round of the negotiations in Washington.

The minister urged the partners to demonstrate flexibility to reach a compromise.

NAFTA took effect 24 years ago. The politicians from all the three sides have repeatedly called for modernization of the agreement, as e-commerce and digital services have largely re-shaped the trade patterns which were in place at the time of signing the deal.