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Canada’s Trudeau Said to Consider Mexico Visit Amid Nafta Talks

Canada’s Trudeau Said to Consider Mexico Visit Amid Nafta Talks

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering making his first visit to Mexico in October amid talks to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions.

Trudeau’s office is in discussions with officials from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s team to decide on the exact date, according to three of the people, who asked not to be named discussing plans that have not been announced publicly. The visit probably would come three or four rounds into talks to update Nafta. Pena Nieto’s press office declined to comment.

Negotiators are set to begin talks to update the two-decade-old Nafta on Wednesday in Washington. Canada and Mexico largely want to defend the advantages they have enjoyed under the deal, keep it free of tariffs and broaden it to new industries. U.S. President Donald Trump has called Nafta the worst trade pact in history, blaming it for millions of lost manufacturing jobs in the U.S., and promised to fix it through negotiations or withdraw.

Trudeau has made improving Canada’s relationship with Mexico a foreign policy priority after ties were strained by the decision under the administration of his predecessor, Stephen Harper, to impose a visa on Mexican travelers to Canada to stem the flow of refugee claims. Pena Nieto visited Ottawa in June 2016, and the visa requirement was lifted in December.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Martin in Mexico City at emartin21@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vivianne Rodrigues at vrodrigues3@bloomberg.net.