Mexico Says ‘Red Lines’ Must Be Respected in U.S. Trade Deal
Mexico Says ‘Red Lines’ Must Be Respected in U.S. Trade Deal
(Bloomberg) --
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that changes to the Nafta successor trade deal with the U.S. and Canada must respect his nation’s “red lines” as negotiators push to complete their work.
Ebrard told reporters on Sunday he briefed the nation’s Senate on the position of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s government to reject a U.S. demand for American labor inspectors south of the border. He said a U.S. proposal for steel in cars to originate in North America would only be acceptable if implemented after more than five years, and a demand on aluminum is impossible for Mexico to meet.
Mexico’s chief negotiator, his undersecretary, Jesus Seade, will communicate to the U.S. the points that are non-negotiable, and any changes will be addressed in a deal addendum, Ebrard said. Seade had previously said he plans to return on Monday to Washington, where he spent the past several days meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
Ebrard and Seade briefed senators on other issues, including rules for the environment and biologic medicines. The Mexican Senate, which already ratified the accord in June, will stand ready to approve needed changes in the agreement, majority leader Ricardo Monreal said after the briefing.
“We haven’t brought any other topic into discussion, because 90% of the treaty isn’t subject to discussion or revision,” Ebrard said. “What we’re going to have is an addendum, and that addendum is with these red lines.”
Negotiations on the stalled agreement reached a crucial phase in Washington on Saturday, as the Trump administration sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a proposal for changes to the deal for review, according to people familiar with the talks.
On Friday night, Seade told reporters he was optimistic a deal can still be finalized in 2019. “I’m confident this is going to reach home, but we’re working on it,” he said.
The USMCA, a revamp of the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement, was signed by all three nations more than a year ago. For months, the White House and House Democrats have been in talks about changes to key sections of the agreement with the aim of securing congressional passage this year.
Pelosi said Thursday that the USMCA would only be brought up for a vote when it includes strong enforcement provisions. It’s unclear how long Pelosi and her top trade negotiator, Representative Richard Neal of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, would review the proposal.
Democrats have sought to include labor and environmental rights requirements in the replacement agreement. Mexico has resisted Democratic demands for teams of U.S. factory inspectors in Mexico, as well as a proposal to ban imports from factories found to be in violation of labor rights provisions. Seade has said, though, that Mexico can accept fast-tracked arbitration panels to hear labor rights complaints.
To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Martin in Mexico City at emartin21@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann
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