Everybody has to give up some candy, says US trade rep Robert Lighthizer on Nafta talks
Washington — The top US and Canadian and trade officials on Tuesday accused each other of sabotaging efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), even as they and Mexico agreed to extend talks into the first quarter of 2018. A seven-day round of talks in suburban Washington ended in acrimony over aggressive US demands on autos, a five-year sunset clause on the pact itself and Canada’s dairy regulations, among other key issues. Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, accused Washington of pursuing a "winner take all" approach. In a major setback, Freeland, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Mexican economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo said they faced "significant conceptual gaps" in their views and agreed to stretch out the talks in search of solutions. Lighthizer complained that the Mexican and Canadian sides showed no evidence of willingness to make changes that would "rebalance" Nafta to shrink US trade deficits. He warned that US compani...
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