Mexican president sees 3-way NAFTA deal ‘this week’

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Monday, August 27, that a final trade deal with the United States and Canada is possible this week, as the US and Mexico wrapped up talks on an updated NAFTA.

Pena Nieto tweeted that he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the phone and encouraged him to return to the negotiating table for a speedy final week of overhauling the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The United States and Mexico had been holding two-way talks to iron out lingering issues, before bringing Canada back to the table.

“I spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the state of the NAFTA negotiations and the progress made between Mexico and the United States,” Pena Nieto wrote on Twitter.

“I told him it was important that (Canada) rejoin the process, with the goal of concluding trilateral negotiations this week.”

Speaking at the White House, US President Donald Trump said Washington and Mexico City had reached a “really good deal.”

The three countries have been renegotiating NAFTA for just over a year at the behest of Trump, who calls the 1994 trade pact a “terrible deal” that he blames for sending US manufacturing jobs to Mexico.  – Rappler.com