MEXICO CITY, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that trade talks with the US were advancing as both sides assessed whether an agreement could be reached before midterm elections on November 3.
The talks aim to achieve an interim bilateral agreement that could give Mexico relief from US tariffs while addressing Washington’s concerns over issues including automotive content and Chinese investment. Mexico’s negotiations with Washington have continued even as US talks with Canada, the third member of the North American free trade (USMCA) trade pact, have faltered.
“In areas where we can reach an agreement and strengthen both countries, we are making progress,” Sheinbaum said during her daily morning press conference.
Mexico continues to seek a “significant reduction” in US tariffs on its auto, steel and aluminum industries, Sheinbaum said. Those sectors remain among the central unresolved issues in the negotiations.
The existing USMCA agreement remains in force, but Washington declined in July to extend it for another 16 years, sending the pact into annual reviews and leaving unresolved broader issues including rules of origin, China, labor and environmental provisions.
That uncertainty has become more acute as Washington’s relationship with Canada deteriorates, while Mexico has continued negotiating with the US separately. Mexico’s push for a deal follows the collapse of US-Canada trade talks last month, which set off a bitter tariff dispute that includes new US import bans on Canadian alcohol, motorcycles and dairy.
Canada has vowed dollar-for-dollar retaliation, and the fallout has reinforced Mexico’s strategy of cooperating with Washington instead of confronting it, in hopes of getting tariff relief.
Though there’s no formal deadline, officials in both countries have said they are hopeful of a deal before the midterm elections in the US, when Republicans risk losing Congress.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes, Editing by Anthony Esposito, Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Cassandra Garrison)
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