On November 29, Mexico's Minister of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo exited a meeting with the US North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiation team in Washington with a negative outlook. “I was clear that the domestic content requirements (sought by the US) are not viable at this point,” stated Guajardo. Representatives of the three countries have made some progress on some basic issues, but the controversial issues including rules of origin, labor standards, dispute settlement resolution format, agricultural trade and government procurement rules, along with the provision to require the three countries to re-affirm their commitment to NAFTA every five years, have stalled negotiations.
On the one hand, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has stated his concern at limited headway on provisions that would rebalance the agreement to the satisfaction of the US which could end NAFTA, but on the other hand, Congress, individual companies and associations are lobbying strongly against such an action due to the close to $13 trillion in annual exports to Mexico alone and substantial US jobs tied to the trade agreement.
At present, negotiations are stalling and are expected to go beyond the March 2018 initial timeline. Mexico and Canada have countered the controversial issues with a suggestion for content rules to be measured regionally instead of nationally, retaining an independent dispute resolution system not tied to any one country (US negotiators sought to include the US court system). Mexico additionally objects to five-year sunset reviews, as they limit confidence in trade agreements and long-term investments.
With Mexican presidential elections in July 2018 and US mid-term congressional elections in November 2018, and a usual 18 month timeline for treaty negotiations, some sources believe that NAFTA renegotiations may not be finalized until 2019.