Sources told The Globe and Mail the U.S. wanted to strike a deal with Canada on autos similar to the agreement it is negotiating with Mexico. Mexican Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, the countryâs point person on international trade, confirmed shortly after midnight Wednesday that he had met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to discuss tariffs.
Analysts say Mexico watched the Canada-U.S. negotiations with an eye on rules of origin in the automotive sector, which has mushroomed in Mexico over the past 30 years of continental free trade. âWhatever Canada agrees with the U.S. will become the departing pointâ for Mexico-U.S. talks, said Juan Carlos Baker Pineda, a former Mexican vice-minister of foreign trade and researcher at the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City.
âWe probably have to agree to what we can in order to lower the burden of those tariffs and then live to negotiate another day,â he said of the Mexican negotiating position.