国产精品99一区二区三_免费中文日韩_国产在线精品一区二区_日本成人手机在线

Mexican negotiators hopeful of way out of NAFTA impasse despite Trump threat

Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-05 14:48:37|Editor: Chengcheng
Video PlayerClose

MEXICO CITY, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Mexican negotiators taking part in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks here said Sunday it is still possible to find a compromise to the automobiles rules of origin dispute, despite planned U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Mexico's chief technical negotiator Kenneth Smith said there was positive dialogue during the seventh round of talks involving the United States, Mexico and Canada, which closes Monday.

"We believe there is still space to continue talking in a constructive manner and to find a good result at the end of the day," Smith told the press. "I feel we had a positive dialogue in this round, we want technical discussions on rules of origin to resume in the coming days."

While the three sides discussed Canada's proposals for the rules of origin, the Mexican side has also been sitting down with its automotive sector to find ways to resolve this impasse, considered the main stumbling block in the talks.

The rules of origin determine what percentage of vehicles must be manufactured in North America to meet NAFTA yardsticks. Canada and Mexico are in favor of maintaining the 62.5 percent rate for vehicles and 60 percent for auto parts that was put in place in 1994. However, the U.S. side is demanding that the North American content be raised to 85 percent and introduce a minimum 50-percent U.S. origin requirement.

Canada has offered a counter-proposal to change the way vehicle costs are measured and use this to determine the rules of origin.

Canada's proposal was followed by a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to slap 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.

The U.S. move would be a major disruption to rules of origin talks since the two are essential for manufacturing vehicles.

However, Mexican negotiator Salvador Behar said the two issues were not linked.

"There are some successes we can show but we still have a little more to do," the chief Canadian negotiator, Steve Verheul, added.

The eighth round of talks will be held in the first half of April.

The talks to modernize the two-decade-old NAFTA have been taking place since August 2017. More than 30 topics have been addressed so far, including regulatory improvements, small and medium-sized enterprises, economic competition and anti-corruption.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001370176191
主站蜘蛛池模板: 伊宁市| 德江县| 探索| 神池县| 运城市| 太湖县| 乌恰县| 锦屏县| 中山市| 望江县| 两当县| 莱西市| 盐山县| 大渡口区| 沈丘县| 澎湖县| 芦溪县| 托克逊县| 镇江市| 永善县| 读书| 昌邑市| 红河县| 邵阳县| 剑川县| 阿图什市| 北川| 黔江区| 寻乌县| 丹江口市| 青海省| 左权县| 无极县| 赞皇县| 山西省| 大兴区| 丹凤县| 长岛县| 博野县| 阜阳市| 清水县|