Mexico City: There could be between six to nine rounds of negotiations between the United States, Canada and Mexico in the event a quick deal is reached on a revamp of the North American Trade Agreement, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said.
Guajardo told reporters in Mexico City that the NAFTA members were looking at avoiding gaps of more than three weeks between negotiating rounds with a view to making quick progress.
“If we calculate the times toward the end of the year, we’re saying that this would give us a universe of rounds that could be between six and nine rounds,” Guajardo said.
Reuters this week reported the three countries had agreed an aggressive timetable to broker a deal on NAFTA in order to avoid politicizing Mexico’s presidential election in July 2018, forecasting rounds held at three-week intervals. The first round of talks on renegotiating NAFTA is due to begin in Washington on August 16
