How Trump would rework Nafta—and what Mexico, Canada want in return

[Forfun]

President Donald Trump put neighboring Canada and Mexico on notice: he’s determined to wring out more favorable terms from Nafta. Now comes the hard part of reworking a trade deal that’s framed relations for more than two decades.


More: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/a...ngness-to-talk

[Lilizh]

Mexicans left behind by NAFTA see opportunity in Trump


Mexico City, Mexico - Even before his win in the 2016 US presidential election, Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric directed at immigrants and Mexicans caused anger and fear in Mexico. But now that he's taken office, there's one part of his platform that many Mexicans feel they can get behind: a renegotiation or cancellation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"If Mexico ends up outside of NAFTA, either because of Trump kicking us out or us deciding to leave, we would celebrate," Alfredo Acedo, a spokesman for the National Union of Autonomous Regional and Campesino Organizations (UNORCA), told Al Jazeera. "That's what we've been demanding for over 20 years."



More: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/fea...073233264.html

[Reflesh]

What will Trump want from Canada on NAFTA? A U.S. document may offer clues

Wondering what the Americans might want from Canada in a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement? Multiple clues might be embedded in a document published by the U.S. government.

The U.S. publishes an annual list of complaints about trade practices in other countries.

This list was cited in a policy paper written for the Trump campaign by Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro — both of whom now have senior administration roles.

Ross is the incoming commerce secretary and Navarro is President Donald Trump's top trade adviser. When Trump announced this week that negotiations will start soon, Ross was seated next to him.


More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/naft...mand-1.3965165

[Calendar]

Pentagon meeting: A first for members of Trump-Trudeau cabinets


Donald Trump's defence secretary says he's so grateful for Canadian soldiers he could kiss them.

At a meeting at the Pentagon on Monday, retired general James Mattis said there's a reason his first phone call to a foreign counterpart was to Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

The U.S. and Canadian military have been close allies since the Second World War, he said, and he experienced that bond personally in Afghanistan.

He noted that when he was in Kandahar, he wanted to hug and kiss every Canadian soldier he saw stepping off the plane.


More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/sajj...ting-1.3969188

[Reflesh]

Trump rules out swift Nafta exit in favor of renegotiation

President Donald Trump won’t immediately terminate U.S. participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement, the White House said, after he spoke with the leaders of Mexico and Canada about ways to renegotiate the accord.

“Both conversations were pleasant and productive. President Trump agreed not to terminate Nafta at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the Nafta deal to the benefit of all three countries,” the White House said in a statement late Wednesday. Mexico’s peso and Canada’s dollar

jumped after the White House’s announcement.


More: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/a...-move-on-nafta

[Reflesh]

Trump tax plan's lack of details has Canada in wait-and-see mode

A large corporate tax cut proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump must still get approval from Congress before it sees the light of day, but it could have impacts on Canada, economists say.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration unveiled a tax revamp proposal that would reduce the top corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent.

• Trump proposes dramatic tax cuts for companies big and small

If it comes to be, that could bring benefits and disadvantages to Canada, which currently has a federal corporate tax rate of just 15 per cent but provincial add-ons bump that rate up to between 18 and 31 per cent across the country.



More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cana...osal-1.4088324

[Robeco]

Mexico, Canada seek U.S. soft spots to bolster NAFTA defense

From launching a data-mining drive aiming to find supply-chain pressure points to sending officials to mobilize allies in key U.S. states, Mexico and Canada are bolstering their defenses of a regional trade pact President Donald Trump vows to rewrite.

Trump has blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs and has threatened to tear it up if he fails to get a better deal.

Fearing the massive disruptions a U.S. pullout could cause, the United States' neighbors and two biggest export markets have focused on sectors most exposed to a breakdown in free trade and with the political clout to influence Washington.



More: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN1800CW

[Nada]

Trump team to Trudeau team: Softwood lumber threats 'inappropriate'

The Trump administration says it won't be pressured by trade threats from the Canadian government, responding Saturday to a warning that the northern neighbour could start targeting American industries in the event of a protracted dispute over softwood lumber.

[Redearth]

U.S., Mexico nearing deal on sugar: Mexico's Guajardo

The United States and Mexico are close to announcing a deal on sugar trade, Mexican Minister of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo said ahead of a planned news conference on Tuesday after talks went into overtime this week.

Guajardo, in an interview on CNBC, said negotiators worked on "minor technicalities" overnight and would likely unveil the agreement at the event with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Ross and Guajardo are scheduled to make an appearance at 1:45 p.m. at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement.




More: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN18X1DA

[Christian]

Trump in hot seat as Comey to testify at Russia hearing


Former FBI Director James Comey will tell Congress on Thursday that President Donald Trump repeatedly urged him to halt a probe into his former national security adviser's ties to Russia and to declare publicly that Trump himself was not being investigated.

Comey's testimony in the most widely anticipated congressional hearing in years will put the spotlight on whether Trump's comments about the Russia investigation were an attempt to obstruct the FBI probe that has dogged his 5-month-old presidency.

The outcome of Comey's testimony could have significant repercussions for Trump's 139-day-old presidency as special counsel Robert Mueller and multiple congressional committees investigate whether Trump's campaign team colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.



More: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN18Z0HC

[LeliW]

U.S. slaps dumping duties on Canadian wood, Ottawa vows to fight


Escalating a trade dispute with Canada in the run-up to talks on renegotiating NAFTA, the U.S. Commerce Department on Monday imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber of up to 7.72 percent.

When combined with preliminary anti-subsidy duties issued in April, the new measures will bring total duties on Canadian lumber to between 17.41 percent and 30.88 percent.


More: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN19H2F8

[SusanLee]

'Hammer, hammer, hammer': Canada lobbies U.S. before NAFTA talks

In the baking Ohio heat Canada's trade minister is trying to save NAFTA, one encounter at a time.

Francois-Philippe Champagne is in Cincinnati for a meeting-packed June day as part of a concerted Canadian outreach campaign ahead of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.



More: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN19K0GE

[Robeco]

U.S. push for freer NAFTA e-commerce meets growing resistance

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A U.S. proposal for Mexico and Canada to vastly raise the value of online purchases that can be imported duty-free from stores like Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and eBay (EBAY.O) is emerging as a flashpoint in an upcoming renegotiation of the NAFTA trade deal.

Vulnerable industries like footwear, textiles and bricks and mortar retail in Mexico and Canada are pushing back hard against the proposal by the U.S. trade representative to raise Mexican and Canadian duty-free import limits for e-commerce to the U.S. level of $800, from current thresholds of $50 and C$20, respectively.



More: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN1AP170

[Leecathy]

NAFTA renegotiation at risk due to U.S. proposals, says Mexican advisor

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The current renegotiation of NAFTA is facing "big red lights" due to controversial proposals made by the U.S., a Mexican participant in the talks said on Wednesday.

Moises Kalach, coordinator of international negotiations at Mexico's Business Coordination Council, said that the "philosophy of the White House" had led to "major unbreachable topics in which Mexico is not ready to give in."

Speaking at a conference in Mexican Institute of Financial Executives, Kalach said the U.S. was seeking to reduce its trade deficit with Mexico and Canada, to make the NAFTA treaty expire every five years, and to increase rules of origin in the automotive sector, among others, making the negotiations more difficult to reach agreement.


More: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136706041.htm

[Calendar]

A year after Donald Trump's victory: the state of Canada-U.S. relations


As Canada, the U.S. and Mexico prepare to head back to the NAFTA negotiating table, the government's parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs says there was never any expectation that negotiating with President Donald Trump would be easy.

"It's not for the faint of heart," Andrew Leslie told The House. "You do need nerves of steel."

Leslie said Canadian negotiators have no intention of walking away from talks with the country's biggest trading partner, despite Trump's unpredictability and the Americans' insistence that they will not budge on the demands they've laid out.


More: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/roo...ions-1.4386407