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Deadline For New NAFTA Deal Is This Friday, August 31st

Negotiations for a revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have dragged on for over a year. The deadline for the U.S., Mexico and Canada to reach a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is this Friday, August 31st, 2018. On Monday, the United States and Mexico agreed on a revised deal that did not include Canada. Subsequently, talks with Canada commenced Tuesday. With car trade at the heart of a new NAFTA, General Motors will be impacted by the new terms no matter what shape they take.

Now less than 48 hours away from the target date, here are three potential outcomes by Friday.

Possibility #1: A Deal With Canada Is Reached

With the U.S. and Mexico already having a deal of their own, Canada is under great pressure to accept the terms of the new agreement. Prior to returning to negotiations on Tuesday, the North-most NAFTA nation did express several concerns, though many are hopeful that it will put those behind it and move forward.

On Wednesday, President Trump said he is optimistic that Canada will join the deal.

“They want to be part of the deal,” President Trump was quoted as saying in regards to Canada. “We gave until Friday and I think we are probably on track. We’ll see what happens.”

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. trade official was quoted as saying that “”There are still issues with Canada but I think they could be resolved very quickly.”

A NAFTA with Canada in it would support the spirit of the original agreement, though the U.S. and Mexico don’t have to do much at this point, as both are secure with a deal with one another.

Possibility #2: A Deal With Canada Is Not Reached

According to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, if talks with Canada do not conclude by Friday, then Trump will notify Congress that he has reached a deal with Mexico.

In doing so, the president will also state that he is open to Canada joining, bringing us to the third option.

Possibility #3: All Three Parties Agree To The Deal Afterhours

Though the official deadline is this Friday, Trump has opened the door to Canada joining the new NAFTA after the deadline. In that regard, the Friday target becomes less important.

Though it is highly unlikely that negotiations will continue after the deadline, some analysts believe that Canada will be able to join the agreement thereafter. But not all is without peril.

“I think with Canada, frankly, the easiest we can do is to tariff their cars coming in”, Trump was quoted as saying. “It’s a tremendous amount of money and it’s a very simple negotiation. It could end in one day and we take in a lot of money the following day.”

The New Deal

The new bilateral NAFTA agreement between Mexico and the United States calls for 75 percent of automotive content (parts) to be made in the NAFTA region, up from the current requirement of 62.5 percent. The requirement is expected to shift production of some automotive parts to Mexico from China.

In addition, the revised deal requires 40 to 45 percent of auto content to be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour. The move will likely result in the relocation of some automotive production from Mexico to the United States, but could also result in an increase in Mexican automotive wages.

In addition, the agreement limits exports of Mexican cars and sport-utility vehicles to the United States at 2.4 million vehicles annually, with any volumes above that level being subjected to tariffs.

GM Authority Executive Editor with a passion for business strategy and fast cars.

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Comments

  1. Canada is scrambling to cut a deal after Mexico agreed to a bilateral trade deal with the U.S.

    The original NAFTA is dead! Good riddance. Remember when certain people, including the Canadian Prime Minister, so smuggly proclaimed they would “never renegotiate NAFTA”? Well, Trump just won again. Just like all those “smart people” who said Hillary had a 96% chance of winning. We all know how that turned out.

    Reply
    1. ANOTHER WIN FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP…JUST ANNOUNCED, EU SET TO SCRAP CAR TARIFFS.

      Fron Zerohedge today:

      “Trump’s hard ball negotiating tactics appear to be bearing some fruit, with Politico reporting that Brussels is willing to scrap tariffs on all industrial products, including cars, in trade talks with the United States, EU trade chief Cecilia Malmström said Thursday.”

      Reply
      1. The Deal with Mexico is a huge win for Mexico. So Trump is a bad deal maker. Here is why it’s a win for Mexico. It calls for GM/Ford to go from 62% of parts/cars made in the NAFTA region to 75%. That 13% will shift from Asia to Mexico not the USA. American consumer will pay more for cars as a result of the increase in wages GM/Ford will have to pay the Mexican workers. $15/hr. Minimum wage in Mexico is 88 cents an hour. Over a 25 times increase. If you multiple our Federal min wage of $7.25 an hour times 25.43 equals $184.37 an hour here in the USA. Or $7,374.80 a week. I think I want to work for GM in Mexico. I asked one of the Mexican guys I work with here he said a real good job in Mexico pays $150 USD a week of 2,000 pesos. He said at $15 an hour you would be living like a king there.

        Reply
  2. Absent of any details, It’s easy to fear the deal with Mexico is the North American version of the ‘deal’ with North Korea.

    Hopefully, it’s a success. But seems premature to chalk it up as a win, quite yet.

    Reply
  3. maga baby!

    Reply
  4. The US dropped demands in May requiring 50 percent of parts be made in the US. In its place… a tentative requirement that 75 percent of parts be made in North American (up from 62%), with yet another tentative caveat that 40-45 percent of those parts be manufactured by workers making $16 an hour.

    This sounds like an incentive to replace unskilled Mexican workers with machines. Or, best case, some of those jobs go to US workers (or Canadian workers, should they sign on) where the cost of labor is greater…

    Either way, if those same parts end up costing more to produce, they obviously drive up the cost of manufacturing them–harming, not helping all parties involved. And, as it is, nobody wants American vehicles in most of the world… so exports take a hit as well.

    What do foreign manufacturers like BMW, that are actually exporting cars from this country do? They go where their costs are lower.

    China has a larger middle class, a growing thirst for autos, and they’ve LOWERED the threshold for foreign investment (as was negotiated and agreed to many years ago). If I’m Mercedes, Toyota, or even GM, I’m investing where there’s the most potential for growth and the least uncertainty. That’s not North America. And that’s most certainly not a win.

    Reply

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