The renegotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement are “70-80 percent” complete and discussions on remaining issues could be completed in the next two to three weeks, Mexico’s top economic official said Thursday.
“I would say that 70 or 80 percent is already in black and white, but the most complex issues are still pending,” Ildefonso Guajardo said, according to the Spanish-language newspaper Vanguardia. By “black and white,” he meant that the details were in writing.
Guajardo’s optimistic assessment matches that of Trump administration officials. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told the Washington Examiner last week the White House believes the talks could be wrapped up by the end of June.
The Mexican economic minister is meeting with his U.S. and Canadian counterparts in Washington in talks that are expected to continue through Friday. The three nations reportedly finished rewriting a chapter on telecommunications.
The talks have been strained, with Canada and Mexico presenting a united front against many of the Trump administration’s more far-reaching proposals. The administration has reportedly softened on some of its requests such as requiring more of a car’s components to be made in the U.S., opening the possibility for a deal.
The U.S. and Mexico are under pressure to complete a deal by midsummer. July 1 is Mexico’s presidential election, and opposition candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a fierce Trump critic, is leading in the polls. In the U.S., the Trade Promotion Authority, the law that limits Congress to strict up or down votes on trade deals, expires July 1 and it isn’t clear if Congress will vote extend it. Should TPA expire, a renegotiated NAFTA could become stuck in Congress.
