We know little about what has been discussed in the NAFTA talks. We do know that the negotiators from the United States, Canada, and Mexico spent time in the United States in August and wrapped up a stint in Mexico earlier this month.
Now the NAFTA negotiations make their way to Ottawa for talks that start on Saturday. The negotiators will be in the Canadian capital until September 27.
The rush for negotiations to end in a deal by the end of the calendar year is based on a 2018 election (Mexico) and pure ego (United States).
For all the jokes about NAFTA 2.0, this almost feels like NAFTA 1.1 in that a lot would need to be covered in a little time. Even if the 3 countries had been working the entire time while, let's say, Barack Obama was president, there would be a lot of ground to cover.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is matched up with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (left) and Mexico's Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal (right).
To no one's surprise, the impetuousness of Donald Trump showed up with him threatening to withdraw from NAFTA. The hubris of the Americans wanting to cut off any way to settle disputes could be a sloppy negotiating point or something they really believe will actually happen. Canada wants the U.S. to prohibit "right to work" laws. That is a wish list item that likely won't see any light south of the 49th parallel.
The latest proposal from the United States is a 5-year termination clause for NAFTA 2.0. The idea of keeping an agreement fresh is understandable, but Canada and Mexico wouldn't agree to that level of instability.
The people who really have been hurt by NAFTA don't have a voice at the negotiating table. This isn't a knock at Chrystia Freeland, the lead negotiator for Canada. But these changes are about companies, not employees.
If the 3 countries had a year of serious negotiation with a desire to truly grow trade for all the countries and their citizens, NAFTA 2.0 would be quite exciting.
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More professional visas, labour and environment concerns, and a way to get more North American content into cars and trucks. This can get done and more. But the cynic in me wonders if that much can happen in such a small time.
The importance of getting Kelly Knight Craft up and running as ambassador to Canada was tied to the NAFTA negotiations but now seems not as important. Knight Craft was sworn in on August 25 but won't take her place in Ottawa until at least October.
The 24-hour cable news cycle in the United States has a difficult time processing trade talks, Let's hope the United States starts paying more attention to the discussion.
We should know more after this final session but not enough to reach a conclusion. NAFTA changes do have to be approved by Congress in the United States. So even if a deal gets done, there are still no guarantees.
This feels more like the Three Amigos 2.0: more gets done but will that be a positive outcome?
photo credit: Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press
Hoping for the best possible outcome of this negotiation. Country leaders must prioritize the benefits of the people.
Posted by: Web Ottawa | October 13, 2017 at 08:13 PM