“Our
time is running very short,” said Robert Lighthizer, chief U.S. negotiator, after the latest round of North American Free Trade negotiations ended Monday
in Mexico City.
And
he said that while he prefers a three-country deal, the U.S. might try to
strike separate deals with Mexico and Canada.
He
also used Trump’s surprise announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on steel and 10
per cent on aluminum to put pressure on Canada because he said if a deal is
struck, the tariffs would not apply.
Trump
clearly surprised his team with his tariff announcement because the Secretary
of State, the Secretary of the Treasury and Lighthizer didn’t know it was
coming before Trump sprung it last week, triggering incensed responses from
around the world.
There
are also indications that Lighthizer has trouble responding to Canadian and
Mexican proposals to deal with two of the most contentious demands Trump has
made in the NAFTA negotiations – an end to disputes-settling panels and a
review of the trade agreement every five years.
He
apparently doesn’t know what Trump will do if he makes even minor concessions
on those issues, some observers have said.
