Top officials from the U.S., Mexico and Canada are close to agreeing to changes to the new North American trade pact that would allow for House Democrats to put the deal up for a vote, Mexico’s top trade official said on Wednesday.
“We’re reaching understandings. We’re now looking at very specific details, but I think we’re heading towards a deal,” Mexican Undersecretary for North America Jesús Seade told reporters after meeting for roughly four hours during the morning with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
“Everything looks like it’s heading in the right direction,” he added.
The latest flurry of trilateral engagement comes as Lighthizer works with House Democrats to make changes to the USMCA surrounding the pact’s labor, environment, enforcement and prescription drug provisions. Canada and Mexico both need to agree to any updates to the deal, which the three countries signed a year ago.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland joined her two counterpoints for a three-way meeting in Washington on Wednesday evening. Two of her top deputies — acting U.S. Ambassador Kirsten Hillman and Canada’s chief NAFTA negotiator Steve Verheul — joined the meeting. .
Seade and Freeland left the headquarters of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Wednesday evening without announcing a breakthrough. But both officials indicated that they will remain in discussions in the coming days to wrap up a deal that the House could vote on soon. Neither would speculate on the timeline for striking a deal.
Seade said he plans to go to Canada on Friday to discuss more details with Freeland. Freeland indicated, however, that there are no plans yet for when all three officials will meet again.
“We have a strong interest in having this ratified in all three countries,” Freeland said. “We are here to do the work needed to get there.”
Source: Trade ministers are close on changes to U.S.-Mexico-Canada deal
