January 9, 2018 | By: ERIC MARTIN –
Mexico’s Economy Minister signaled there is common ground over a key U.S. objective ahead of the next round of Nafta talks, saying that strengthening the regional content rules for cars would be a victory for all three member nations.
The Montreal talks are “crucial because it’s the first time we have to send clear signals of where we find possible accommodations,” Ildefonso Guajardo told a gathering of Mexican diplomats Tuesday. For the car industry, “the solution is without a doubt for a strengthened rule of origin in regional automotive content.”
The U.S. demand for more North American, and specifically U.S. content in vehicles is among the most contentious issues on the Nafta negotiating table, along with issues such as government procurement. Negotiators largely avoided these issues in the latest talks in Mexico City in November and Washington in December, setting up the next set of meetings in Canada in two weeks as potentially decisive.
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