Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 1/29/18



U.S., Canadian and Mexican negotiators said they made some progress as they concluded the latest round of talks on changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Montreal today and agreed to further rounds of talks in Mexico and the United States.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said while some progress was made, he hopes it will accelerate and achieve "major breakthroughs," adding, "This round was a step forward, but we are progressing slowly," according to CBC News.
In a televised news conference, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said, “All of us felt we had made some progress,” but added, there is “a lot more work to be done.”

“All three of us have decided to continue with our discussions and continue to pull out all of the stops. Canada absolutely believes we need to modernize NAFTA and that it is possible and we are all doing our utmost to ensure we can have a win, win, win conclusion for these three countries,” Freeland told reporters. 

The meetings in Montreal were the sixth round of talks. Freeland said the negotiators agreed to meet again in Mexico in late February or early March and then look at dates for a further meeting in the United States.  

The trade talks are now expected to continue beyond an initial March 31 deadline and could even extend into 2019, the Washington Post reported.

Implications for meat companies
While extended negotiations could bode well for an eventual outcome that preserves the agreement, the protracted timetable could still have adverse consequences for U.S. trade.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Kenneth Zaslow pointed out in a note to investors that even if NAFTA remains largely intact (but modernized), “a protracted timetable on NAFTA negotiations likely would be costly across the U.S. agribusiness and protein sectors, as it provides time for Mexico and Canada to form additional trade alliances at the U.S.’s expense.”

If the United States does end up exiting NAFTA, which President Donald Trump has continued to pose as an option, Zaslow predicted the protein sector would be hard hit as a likely leveling of tariffs across the globe would reduce the nation’s preferred status and likely erode U.S. export market share to Mexico and Canada.

Negotiation sticking points in the past have included a U.S. demands to boost regional auto content requirements and require 50 percent U.S. content in North American-built vehicles; to largely eliminate trade and investment dispute-settlement systems; and to contain a “sunset” clause to force renegotiations every five years.

Canada and Mexico are major trading partners for U.S. beef and pork.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.