U.S. Trade Proposals Are So Obviously Unpopular They Give Mexicans Hope Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian - Foreign Policy
go to original October 27, 2017

Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal looks on during a press conference at the conclusion of the fourth round of negotiations for a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the General Services Administration headquarters in Washington, DC (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

Update: When Dealing with Trump, Mexico Is Content to be the Adult in the Room (The Kansas City Star)

As the Trump administration triples down on impossible-to-meet red lines on trade talks, pessimism about the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement abounds seemingly everywhere.

But some Mexican economic officials are quietly, quixotically optimistic about the prospects of the beleaguered pact. That’s because they view U.S. President Donald Trump’s maximalist positions and threats to withdraw from NAFTA as an isolated and untenable stance that bucks the desires of business, agriculture, trade groups, lawmakers, and a majority of the American public. It’s clear to Mexico and to U.S. industry groups, if not to Trump, that unwinding NAFTA would be a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.

Trump has “a vision of zero-sum trade, where I fear the only winners will be our overseas competitors,” said Karen Antebi, an economic counselor at the Mexican Embassy’s trade office in Washington, in early October.

Trump administration trade officials have set a few starting conditions for NAFTA talks that both Canada and Mexico called unacceptable out of the gate. And they’re not trying to sweeten the deal; Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acknowledged on Wednesday that the United States is “not in a position to offer anything in return” for its demands.

Read the rest at Foreign Policy

Related: Mexico Feels Mortgaged to Nafta. Time to Refinance.

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