Mexican Officials, Analysts Welcome Trump Draft NAFTA Notice

A draft notice of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) modernization objectives provided by the Trump administration gives Mexico the negotiating room needed to move forward, according to trade analysts and those close to Mexico's trade team.The notice was leaked March 30 and includes many of the issues Mexican trade officials and experts have cited as potential negotiating points – including rules of origin, intellectual property rights, and labor and environmental issues."I see this draft notice as a serious document with a very positive tone,” said Beatriz Leycegui, former undersecretary for foreign trade in the Calderon administration (2006-2012) and partner at SAI Consulting. "It opens windows more than closes doors, and demonstrates that there is a willingness to have an agreement that will modernize NAFTA."A move away from the rhetoric once coming from the Trump administration – like the possibility that NAFTA might be completely abandoned – was evident in the draft notice. Further, it lays out specific issues on trade in goods and services, customs, government procurement, digital trade and other issues that the US would like to modify in the current agreement. Such a modification has met with support from top Mexican officials, who agree that issues such as electronic commerce and the full incorporation of labor and environmental chapters into the agreement would serve Mexico, the US and Canada."We do not shy away from modernizing NAFTA and making it better," said Luis Videgaray, the foreign minister, speaking at the Mexican Embassy in Washington April 6. "The world has changed in the last 20 years, and we have learned a lot about trade between the three countries.