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在线翻译:
szdaily -> World Economy -> 
Canada rejoins NAFTA free trade talks
    2018-08-30  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

CANADA’S top trade negotiator praised Mexico’s trade concessions on autos and labor rights Tuesday as she rejoined North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks, while U.S. lawmakers warned that a bilateral U.S.-Mexico trade deal would struggle to win approval in Congress.

Automotive executives and other sources also said Tuesday that the bilateral U.S.-Mexico deal announced Monday allows U.S. President Donald Trump to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports of Mexican-made passenger vehicles and auto parts above certain volumes.

If Trump proceeds with the tariffs now under consideration based on national security concerns, Mexican duty-free exports of cars and sport-utility vehicles to the United States would be capped at 2.4 million vehicles annually. Volumes above that level would be subject to tariffs, auto-industry officials and other sources said.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said that Mexico’s “difficult” concessions to the United States on Monday would pave the way for productive talks this week as all three countries race toward a Friday deadline for a deal to modernize the 24-year-old NAFTA.

“These concessions are really going to be important for workers in Canada and the United States,” she told reporters after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Freeland, who later met with Mexican officials Tuesday evening, said she is due to dig into detailed discussions with Lighthizer on Wednesday.

Trump warned Monday he could proceed with a deal with Mexico alone and levy tariffs on Canada if it does not come on board with the revised trade terms.

After being sidelined from the talks for more than two months, Freeland will be under pressure to accept terms the United States and Mexico worked out on a trade deal announced Monday.

One of the main sticking points for Canada in the revised deal is the U.S. effort to dump the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism that hinders the United States from pursuing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases. Lighthizer said Monday that Mexico had agreed to eliminate the mechanism.

Other hurdles include intellectual property rights, such as the U.S.-Mexico 10-year data exclusivity for biologic drug makers and extensions of copyright protections to 75 years from 50, all higher thresholds than Canada has previously supported.

Dan Ujczo, a Columbus, Ohio-based trade lawyer who focuses on U.S.-Canada issues, said it would be hard for Freeland to win concessions from Lighthizer on these issues.

“I think he’s going to sit there with his arms folded a lot,” Ujczo added.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told Mexican television Tuesday the three sides would work for a three-way deal. “We are now going to devote long hours to the negotiation with Canada,” he said.

Negotiations among the three partners, whose mutual trade totals more than US$1.2 trillion annually, have dragged on for more than a year, putting pressure on the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar. Both currencies gained against the U.S. dollar Monday, but the peso weakened Tuesday.

If a deal is not reached with Canada, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said the Trump administration intends to proceed with a separate trade agreement with Mexico.

The Mexican government has also taken that position, even as it says it wants a trilateral deal. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is keen to sign the agreement before leaving office at the end of November.

(SD-Agencies)

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