On July 17, the document containing the objectives of the renegotiation of NAFTA was released at least 30 days earlier, as the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 marks. The document reveals that there was an exhaustive consultation with several interest groups. The first consultation took place in Congress a few weeks after President Trump's arrival in the United States. Subsequently, groups directly involved in the NAFTA operation were consulted, such as the agricultural sector, manufacturing, services and digital commerce, and finally to the general public, which provided 12,000 responses. All these consultations had an impact on the design of the NAFTA objectives to be renegotiated. However, it will not be the only consultation since the consultation process will continue even during the renegotiation sessions. We cannot fail to emphasize that the United States wants to obtain certain advantages in renegotiation, such as the elimination of barriers to US exports, the elimination of trade surpluses from its trading partners, and free access to markets through effective implementation and enforced compliance. USTR says that the new NAFTA will promote a market system that functions more efficiently, leading to reciprocal and balanced trade among the parties but when we see that overall USA wants to renegotiate because apparently the American workers have been harmed, the factories have closed and the trade deficit has grown, we do not believe that the renegotiation will be fair for all. The summary released includes:
- Trade in goods: for example, maintain existing duty-free access to NAFTA country markets for U.S. textile and apparel products and seek to improve competitive opportunities for exports of U.S. textile and apparel products while taking into account U.S. import sensitivities (be careful with this because it seems that US is going to protect local market!)
- Agricultural goods: for example, expand competitive market opportunities for U.S. agricultural goods in NAFTA countries, substantially equivalent to the competitive opportunities afforded foreign exports into the U.S. market, by reducing or eliminating remaining tariffs (Seek to eliminate non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural exports including discriminatory barriers, restrictive administration of tariff rate quotas, other unjustified measures that unfairly limit access to markets for U.S. goods, such as cross subsidization, price discrimination, and price undercutting). In other words, US want free agricultural market and a positive balance trade by providing reasonable adjustment periods for U. S. import sensitive agricultural products, engaging in close consultation with Congress on such products before initiating tariff reduction negotiations.
- Sanitary and phytosanitary measures: for example, provide for enforceable SPS obligations that build upon WTO rights and obligations, including with respect to science based measures, good regulatory practice, import checks, equivalence, and regionalization, making clear that each country can set for itself the level of protection it believes to be appropriate to protect food safety, and plant and animal health in a manner consistent with its international obligations (that means that US will be free to impose as many barriers as they want).
- Customs, trade facilitation, and Rules of origin: for example, increase transparency by ensuring that all customs laws, regulations, and procedures are published on the Internet as well as designating points of contact for questions from traders (which implies changes on Mexican Legislation related to international trade), update and strengthen the rules of origin, as necessary, to ensure that the benefits of NAFTA go to products genuinely made in the United States and North America, ensure the rules of origin incentivize the sourcing of goods and materials from the United States and North America. (Should Mexico be afraid of this? What if US push Mexico to reduce local content in Mexican export products?)
This is just one example of the objectives that the US wants to meet with the NAFTA renegotiation, but the most worrying thing is that some Mexican officials think that we have won the first battle. We think that we have to be able to read between the lines.
