With NAFTA negotiations at their midpoint, senior officials from Canada and Mexico accused the United States of seeking unfair trade advantages. U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer sternly responded that the United States will no longer tolerate trade deficits. During the just-ended fourth round of talks, Canada rejected U.S. proposals to end its supply management system for dairy, poultry, and eggs.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said a “win-win-win” agreement for all three nations “cannot be achieved with a winner-take-all mindset.” Mexico’s economic secretary, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, followed by saying, “We must understand we all have limits. … No one wants to end this process empty-handed.” Speaking last, Lighthizer said NAFTA “has become very lopsided and needs to be rebalanced.” He reiterated the Trump administration’s determination to eliminate trade deficits and said he was disappointed by resistance to U.S. proposals.
In some cases, said Lighthizer, negotiators for the new NAFTA refused to accept provisions that were part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. President Trump pulled the United States out of the 12-nation TPP shortly after taking office. Canada and Mexico were part of the TPP.
The senior officials did not mention agriculture during remarks that concluded the fourth round. Negotiations are scheduled to resume in Mexico City on Nov. 17–21. Negotiators so far have been meeting every couple of weeks; the one-month pause means NAFTA talks will continue into early 2018 rather than conclude this year. The three leaders encouraged each other to use the time before the Mexico City round to consider what they can accomplish. “Let’s continue working together,” said Guajardo.
Lighthizer told reporters that the United States was not taking steps to withdraw from NAFTA, said CNBC. President Trump has threatened repeatedly to scrap the agreement.
Canada and Mexico account for one-third of U.S. agricultural trade, according to USDA data. Canada runs a small ag trade surplus, less than $1 billion a year, with the United States. Mexico, the largest source of U.S. food and ag imports, has an annual surplus of between $4 billion and $5 billion. Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said changes to his country’s supply management scheme were “simply a nonstarter.”
“I do understand we put some aggressive proposals on the table,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue during a teleconference from Spain. U.S. dairy groups have complained for years about Canada’s import and price controls on dairy. Florida produce growers want the new NAFTA to protect them from seasonal surges of fruit and vegetables from Mexico.