The Trump administration this week announced that the opening round of negotiations to upgrade the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) will be held in Washington from August 16-20.
Officials from the three countries then plan to hold seven round of talks at three-week intervals to finish the Nafta renegotiation rapidly, it was reported.
U.S. trade representatives had earlier published an 18-page document outlining their objectives for a revised deal, putting the emphasis on reducing the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico and Canada and obtaining “fairer” provisions for U.S. workers.
Mexican and Canadian officials held talks this week to discuss joint strategies on handling the upcoming negotiations. Representatives from both nations agreed that while Nafta should be revamped to reflect current business conditions, major structural changes should be avoided and that all three nations should come away from the talks feeling they had made gains.
Analysts have suggested Trump may be willing to backtrack on his vow to reduce the trade deficit by one-third in favor of obtaining concessions in areas such as dispute resolution mechanisms, dumping, intellectual property rights, labor law and rules of origin.