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Union leaders say meeting with Trump was 'productive'

U.S. labor leaders held a “productive” meeting with President Trump on Wednesday, calling for their priorities to be backed in a new NAFTA. “Labor is united in its view that NAFTA is a disaster for working people and must be fixed,” the heads of fix major unions said in a joint statement. “We had a very productive meeting which made clear to the president that a new NAFTA must create fair and balanced trade in North America.” “Real solutions for...

CSI publishes analysis on risks of NAFTA withdrawal for services sector

Ahead of next week’s NAFTA negotiating round, the Coalition of Services Industries is warning of the risks to the U.S. services sector if the U.S. opts to withdraw from the deal. “Through the creation of common and non-discriminatory trade rules, NAFTA has opened both the Canadian and Mexican markets to a diverse array of U.S. services providers, further strengthening the U.S. services trade relationship and role within the North American supply chain,” CSI President Christine Bliss said in a statement...

Sources: Canada to propose eliminating ISDS at NAFTA meeting this week; USTR to agree

Editor's note: This story was updated after initial publication to include a comment from the Canadian government. During a meeting with their U.S. counterparts this week, Canadian negotiators will pitch the elimination of the deal’s investor-state dispute settlement provision -- and the U.S. is expected to agree to that proposal, allowing for what private-sector and congressional sources called a “win” for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in one of his priority areas in the talks. The decision to yield...

New Zealand releases CPTPP text

New Zealand has released the text of the newly agreed-to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership . The follow-on to the TPP was concluded by 11 countries last month. They plan to sign it in Chile on March 8. As New Zealand notes, the CPTPP “incorporates, by reference, the provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) with the exception of a small number of technical articles. The CPTPP also suspends the application of a number of provisions. These are...

Mexico expecting a 'very difficult' seventh NAFTA round, chief negotiator says

The seventh round of NAFTA talks, set to begin this weekend, will be “very difficult,” Kenneth Smith Ramos, Mexico’s chief NAFTA negotiator, said this week. Speaking at a university in Mexico, Smith Ramos said the three NAFTA countries would try to close some of chapters and get to the heart of the more controversial issues, according to an informal translation of a report in El Financiero . On one of those issues, automotive rules of origin, Smith Ramos...

GOP senators, ahead of Turnbull White House visit, to urge Trump to ‘re-engage’ on TPP

Editor's note: The letter, posted here , was sent on Feb. 16, with 25 signatures. A large group of Republican senators, ahead of the Australian Prime Minister’s visit to the White House next week, will encourage President Trump to re-engage with the 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries on an “improved” deal, saying that re-joining TPP would build on the economic growth he has facilitated through the tax bill and regulatory reforms. The senators, in a letter led by Sen. Steve...

Mnuchin, McKinney play down chances of NAFTA withdrawal

Two top Trump administration officials this week voiced optimism about concluding the renegotiation of NAFTA and dodging withdrawal from the deal. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the House Ways & Means Committee on Thursday that he was “cautiously hopeful that [U.S. Trade Representative] Ambassador Lighthizer will be renegotiating this deal.” “It is a major priority of ours to renegotiate the deal,” he added. Mnuchin declined to outline the consequences of withdrawal, saying “because again that’s not our first priority; our...

Canada took NAFTA autos pitch to Capitol Hill, U.S. stakeholders, angering Lighthizer

After the sixth round of NAFTA talks wrapped up late last month, the Canadian government presented its automotive rule of origin ideas to the congressional committees of jurisdiction as well as U.S. industry and union leaders -- drawing the ire of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who sources said felt their engagement diminished his leverage in the talks. Canada’s 14-page PowerPoint presentation, which was presented to U.S. and Mexican negotiators at the Montreal round in late January and was obtained...

Lapse in ITAC charters could keep cleared advisers from briefings during next NAFTA round

Industry stakeholders could find themselves without access to briefings by North American Free Trade Agreement negotiators during the next round of talks, as charters authorizing the advisers is set to expire on Tuesday with no guarantee that they will be renewed – and the advisers reappointed – before the Mexico City round begins. The charters for the 16 Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs), which provide administrations with stakeholder input throughout the course of trade negotiations, expired on Feb. 14. The...

Sen. Lankford urges administration not to re-open CAFTA now

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) hopes the Trump administration does not move to modernize the Central America Free Trade Agreement, arguing that doing so would only bring more instability to the region. At a Feb. 14 event on Capitol Hill, Lankford said while there are “issues” with CAFTA-DR FTA, re-opening it for modernization would not be wise. “[CAFTA] is something that when I was in Central America a couple of weeks ago, that was a major part of the conversation, quite...

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