/ Modified may 25, 2017 9:07 a.m.

Mexico And Canada: NAFTA Changes Require 3-Nation Effort

Following trade official's announcement, Canada and Mexico emphasize trilateral agreement.

NAFTA 2017 Luis Videgaray, the Mexican secretary of foreign affairs; Chrystia Freeland, Canada's minister of foreign affairs; and Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico's secretary of economy, met in Mexico City to discuss NAFTA and other issues.
Rodrigo Cervantes, Fronteras Desk

MEXICO CITY — Last week, the top U.S. trade official formally notified Congress of the intention to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. What the American government will do is still unclear, but Mexican and Canadian authorities say they’re ready.

In early May, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the U.S. will either revise NAFTA as a three-way trade agreement or dissolve it to pursue separate deals with Canada and Mexico.

But Mexican and Canadian officials met in Mexico City on Tuesday and made their stance clear: NAFTA will be revised, yes, but only if the three nations involved work together.

“This is a trilateral agreement, and therefore for us, it is simply a matter of common sense. The negotiations on NAFTA will be trilateral,” said Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, at a press conference at the Mexican office of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, NAFTA is currently the world's largest free trade area, linking approximately 450 million people.

Mexico is Arizona’s top destination for exports and Canada is No. 2.

Fronteras Desk
This story is from the Fronteras Desk, a collaboration of Southwestern public radio stations, including NPR 89.1. Read more from the Fronteras Desk.
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona