The United States and Mexico said Thursday that negotiators will hold bilateral talks this month ahead of a joint review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact, in discussions that come amid tariff pressure from President Donald Trump.
Negotiators will hold their first meeting the week of March 16 and will meet periodically thereafter, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said.
Under originally agreed terms, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is due to be reviewed in July.
Trump signed and praised the pact during his first presidency, but has reportedly been considering abandoning the deal entirely as tensions with Canada rise.
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Since returning to the White House, he has also threatened allies and competitors with sweeping and rapidly changing tariffs, although he has created exceptions for a swath of Mexican and Canadian imports entering his country.
For now, Dominic LeBlanc, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister in Ottawa, has expressed optimism about the future of the deal.
LeBlanc will be in Washington on Friday, where he will meet with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
“They will discuss the upcoming trilateral review of the (USMCA), as well as bilateral concerns,” LeBlanc’s spokesperson told AFP.
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For the U.S.-Mexico talks, Greer and Mexico’s Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard have instructed negotiators to “initiate a scoping discussion” on the measures needed to ensure that the benefits of the deal “flow primarily to the parties.”
This includes “reducing dependence on imports from outside the region, strengthening rules of origin, and improving the security of North American supply chains,” the USTR office said in a statement.
LeBlanc said last week that he believed Washington was willing to be specific about desired adjustments to the USMCA.
He also indicated in comments that Trump’s dismissive rhetoric about the USMCA does not match the stance of his trade team.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
