WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Saturday hinted that the US and Mexico were on the verge of finalising a deal, as negotiators from both sides were holding talks through the weekend to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

The trilateral treaty has been a key target in the US president’s aggressive trade strategy and he has repeatedly threatened to scrap it altogether.

But after a year of intense negotiations aimed at salvaging the 25-year-old pact that Trump has previously referred to as a “disaster,” the US and Mexico now appear to be close to a point where Canada can rejoin the talks.

“Our relationship with Mexico is getting closer by the hour,” Trump tweeted.

“Some really good people within both the new and old government, and all working closely together....A big Trade Agreement with Mexico could be happening soon!” His tweet followed a similarly promising message from Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, who said on Friday that bilateral meetings with the US were “very far” along.

Speaking to reporters on his way into Saturday’s talks in Washington, Guajardo praised the US president’s “optimism.” “I think, depending what happens today, we could confirm it,” he said. “But we are still not there, as I have said before.” “Today will be an important day,” he added.

Guajardo and Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray have been shuttling back and forth to Washington for more than a month for meetings with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to try to iron out major bilateral stumbling blocks, such as rules for the auto market, before the end of August.

Videgaray described Trump’s comment simply as “interesting.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland of Canada said earlier in the week that she was encouraged by the progress and would rejoin the talks once bilateral discussions concluded.

Contentious sunset clause

Guajardo previously declined to go into detail on the topics remaining with the United States but said the agreement could happen at any time.

A contentious “sunset” proposal by the United States — to require that the nearly 25-year-old trade pact be reauthorised every five years — is one that must include all three partners, Guajardo said.

“We have to make sure that everybody feels comfortable with this agreement,” he said.

Jesus Seade, an economic advisor to Mexico’s incoming president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been participating in portions of the Nafta talks.

According to him, the sunset clause has been “taken out,” with new alternatives under discussion.

“It is no longer what the US proposed in any way, it is an approach focused on future evaluation and continuation,” he said.

Meanwhile, he too backed Trump’s suggestion that an agreement is close.

“He’s a man whose style I really like,” Seade said. “I think this reflects reality, I think we’re doing well.”

The United States and Mexico are keen to seal a new deal before Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto hands over power to Lopez Obrador on December 1.

For that to happen, the US Congress must be notified 90 days in advance.

Guajardo and Lighthizer began meeting at the end of July after negotiations between the three partners stalled in May.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2018