US, Mexico resume USMCA trade talks as Trump hits Canada with new tariffs

(Reuters)

MEXICO CITY, July 21 – U.S. and Mexican trade negotiators will meet for a third round of bilateral talks on Tuesday to ​try to push forward with revising the North American trade agreement, just as President Donald Trump slaps Canada with a new set of ‌punitive duties.

The talks, which exclude Canada, are set to run for three days and are the first formal discussions on changes to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement since the Trump administration declined to extend the six-year-old regional trade pact on July 1.

The move started a clock to wind down USMCA within 10 years unless the three countries can agree on improvements. Industry groups have urged Trump to keep ​intact the trilateral structure and largely tariff-free access that underpins nearly $1.6 trillion in annual trade.

Mexico’s new ambassador to the U.S., Roberto Lazzeri, said on Friday ​that Mexico was expecting to reach a new deal by the end of the year, and that he believes the U.S. ⁠and Canada are aiming for the same goal.

“Every moment that we’re losing, I think we are losing competitiveness, market share and investment, so it’s in the best interest ​of all three of us to get to a position of resolution soon,” said Lazzeri, a former investment banker and finance ministry official.

He added that Mexico shares the ​Trump administration’s goal of bringing more manufacturing to North America, including to the U.S. Another key goal for Mexico is to win some relief from Trump’s 25% national security tariffs on Mexican autos and 50% on its steel and aluminum products, duties also applied to Canada.

The talks come a day after the Trump administration announced new tariffs on nearly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over Ottawa’s ​retaliatory tariffs on U.S. autos, steel, aluminum and liquor and its high dairy tariffs.

That move deepens a rift that has kept Canada largely sidelined in the USMCA ​negotiations, as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said there has been little movement towards concessions.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that his government had made comprehensive proposals to resolve ‌trade disputes ⁠with Washington, adding that Trump’s past tariffs violated the North American trade pact.