3 November 2008

NAFTA update possible with right approach, Mexican official says

This article is excerpted from the 3 November 2008 edition of “American Shipper”.

Mexico is open to collaborating with Canada and the United States to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement, but any attempt to renegotiate the treaty could lead to its demise, Mexico's ambassador to the United States said.

During the presidential campaign Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama said they wanted to use opt-out clauses to pressure both countries to add environmental and labor standards to the pact. Obama has since toned down talk of withdrawing from NAFTA in favor of mutual efforts to correct portions of the treaty.

Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan said in an Oct. 22 interview with the Houston Chronicle that renegotiating NAFTA would undermine the competitiveness of the continent. Any U.S. attempts to redo the deal would likely lead Canada and Mexico to seek revisions to other parts of the pact.

"The probable end-game of that is going to be the meltdown of what we've built over these 15 years," he said. "I would say that if the idea is to strengthen NAFTA, to ensure that NAFTA is providing these three countries with a platform with which we can continue growing and competing, I think Mexico would be willing to sit down."…