The sixth round of talks to renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) concluded in Montreal, Canada on Jan. 19, but still no concrete details were released.
In his closing comments at the session, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer did say, “We believe some progress was made.” He noted that an important chapter dealing with corruption was closed, and added, “More importantly though, we finally began to discuss some of the core issues. So, this round was a step forward, but we are progressing very slowly.”
NAFTA was negotiated by President George H.W. Bush and subsequently approved by Congress in 1993. Under the agreement, U.S. food and agriculture exports have more than quadrupled and account for 25 percent of American exports.
Last summer President Donald Trump notified Congress of his administration’s intentions to initiate negotiations with Canada and Mexico regarding modernizing of NAFTA. Trump has not been bashful in expressing his desire for bilateral trade agreements and has pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks soon after taking office.
He has threatened to also pull out of NAFTA despite calls from agriculture organizations to “do no harm” to agricultural trade during negotiations.
After NAFTA was fully implemented in January 2008 it resulted in duty-free and unlimited access for beef among the United States, Canada and Mexico. If the U.S. withdraws, Mexico and Canada would be able to impose tariffs on U.S. products similar to those on products from other countries.
American Farm Bureau Federation’s Senior Director of Congressional Relations Dave Salmonsen told WLJ such a move would put the U.S. in the same competitive position, as far as tariffs as other countries that export to Mexico and Canada.
Kent Bacus, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association director of international trade and market access, told WLJ this round of talks covered all industry sectors, including agriculture.
When questioned about progress he said while nearly impossible to predict outcomes or breakthroughs, “It’s encouraging that additional rounds are scheduled, and that recent comments from President Trump indicated he would be willing to consider rounds beyond the next two.” He added, “We hope talks successfully conclude as quickly as possible, so that U.S. negotiators can move forward on other trade policy priorities for beef producers, such as securing market access to Japan.”
Asked if the call for no harm to agriculture is being followed, Bacus said, “We trust that our negotiators are doing the best they can for our industry, but agriculture is at a disadvantage because of our missing chief agriculture negotiator. The best way to protect agriculture’s interests is to confirm Gregg Doud quickly to that position. That’s why we have been calling on Senator Jeff Flake [R-AZ] to drop his hold on Mr. Doud’s nomination.”
President Trump nominated Doud last summer to fill the negotiator position in the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
As the NAFTA talks go on, Salmonsen said there is no expiration date for the current agreement. He added that before pulling out a country would need to give a six-month notice to the other countries.
Talking about the talks seemingly dragging on, Bacus told WLJ, “The longer talks drag on, the longer beef producers and other businesses have to live with uncertainty over the fate of their market access. We are doing our best to convey that sense of urgency to the administration.”
Regarding the latest round, Salmonsen said, “There was more engagement by Canada and Mexico to some of the U.S. proposals, such as those on autos than there had been, so that was viewed as progress.” Discussions will continue on sanitary and phytosanitary measures and on market access for dairy and poultry into Canada, Salmonsen said.
Some individuals and organizations have expressed concern that if an agreement is not reached soon, any progress could be disrupted by upcoming elections in Mexico.
Additional talks are scheduled for Mexico City at the end of February and again in Washington, D.C. in March. — Rae Price, WLJ editor
