NAFTA due for modernizing, Mexico official says

Davos, Switzerland — Sounding optimistic about negotiations that have resumed in Canada, Mexico’s economy minister agreed Thursday that the 22-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement needed modernizing.

Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said the attempt to find creative solutions on NAFTA was in a much better place than a year ago.

But the document needs modernizing to reflect advances in technology and the changing energy balance in North America.

“The car that we use as the base for rules of origin is the model from 1991. Look at the car today – it’s 80 pct different,” Guajardo said in a panel discussion at the World Economic Summit.

Negotiators must interpret U.S. President Donald Trump’s promises in a way that does as little damage as possible.

“The president is right in saying that in North America, we have to make a much better effort to integrate value production in the North American countries,” he said.

NAFTA negotiations continued Tuesday in Montreal.

Source: Reuters

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