Mexican Embassy Official: We Defended NAFTA Best We Could

When Mexico was confronted with an administration that doesn't agree that free trade is good for America, it had "no option but to play ball," given the interdependence of the Mexican and U.S. economies, said Karen Antebi, economic counselor for the Trade and NAFTA Office at the Mexican Embassy. Antebi, one of the speakers at the Global Business Dialogue event Sept. 26, said Mexico wanted to reassure foreign investors, preserve economic access to the U.S. market and maintain North American competitiveness in a new NAFTA. "Clearly U.S. demands drove the negotiations," she said. "What can I say? This was a pragmatic, not a principle-driven negotiation."

Mexico was able to retain duty-free auto exports as long as they meet the new rules of origin; eliminate the U.S. demand for seasonality rules on agricultural products; maintain market access for textiles; and modify the investor-state dispute chapter, she said. "Chapter 20 is still there," she said. "We kept and expanded the global safeguard" exclusion, which was an element the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative wanted out of a new NAFTA (see 1707180022). She declined to elaborate on how the safeguard exclusion was expanded, saying the text will be released soon.

Mexico also believes it defanged the sunset provision, an issue important to foreign investors. She said they're naming its replacement "a sunrise provision." But as far as a look ahead on NAFTA -- also the title of the panel -- Antebi declined to weigh in on the fate of Canada, as did a Canadian embassy official in the audience.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in New York earlier in the day: "We are continuing to work on getting to a right deal for Canada, a right deal for Canadians, and that involves, obviously, feeling confident about the path forward as we move forward -- if we do -- on a NAFTA 2.0 and the ... lack of punitive tariffs that we consider are unjust." USTR Robert Lighthizer said the day before that the end of steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada would not be resolved as part of NAFTA, but rather would be a next stage of negotiations (see 1809250011). Trudeau said President Donald Trump has told him repeatedly that if a NAFTA deal is agreed to, Canada won't need to worry about national security tariffs.