Mexican Official: List of Unresolved NAFTA Items Getting Shorter

Mexico's economy minister said U.S. and Mexican negotiators are making headway on NAFTA revisions, but declined to enumerate how many hurdles have been crossed in weeks of intensive work. Ildefonso Guajardo had spoken about 20 items being negotiated at the ministerial level last week (see 1808030004). "We started with a huge list of items to be closed, now we have been able to reduce that a great deal, and we are basically trying to do the best effort to close up. But still, there are things that have to be resolved," he told reporters Aug. 10.

Asked to rank how close NAFTA is to reaching an agreement in principle, on a scale of 1 to 10, Guajardo said: "You can be at 8 or 9 for awhile, until you really solve the most complex issues." Canada has not been at the negotiating table since May, and Guajardo made no predictions as to when they would be invited back, though he said he expects trilateral negotiations before long. "It will depend upon the speed in which the next few days or weeks we finish the U.S.-Mexico elements," he said. One of the U.S. demands that both Canada and Mexico see as a deal breaker is a sunset clause. "The sunset has not been discussed," he said.