MEXICO CITY, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Mexico will seek a trilateral renegotiation of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to seek an agreement which improves economic ties between Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Mexican Foreign Ministers Luis Videgaray met his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland in Mexico last week and agreed on this important position.
"What we must do as governments is to facilitate and promote the regional integration," Videgaray said. "We believe the framework of the agreement must be trilateral. This is what suits the economies and the people of Canada, the United States and Mexico."
Videgaray also explained that Mexico is ready to begin a trilateral and constructive renegotiation of NAFTA in order to improve its shared prosperity and regional competitiveness with Canada and the U.S.
He said it was important "to quickly resolve this matter to provide certainty to investors," especially since the negotiations will go into next year when Mexican presidential campaign and election will take place in 2018.
On May 18, the administration of President Donald Trump notified Congress of its intention to pursue the renegotiation of NAFTA. The U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also announced the possibility of American bilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada separately.
Ross will lead the U.S. renegotiation team for NAFTA along with the current U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The Mexican Senate is ready to analyze and evaluate Mexico's foreign policy, which will help set clear lines for the government and obtain better benefits during the NAFTA renegotiation, Mexican lawmaker Gabriela Cuevas said in an interview with Xinhua.
Cuevas, a member of the National Action Party (PAN) and the president of the Senate's Foreign Relations Commission, said the goal should be for NAFTA to become more inclusive, so free trade can benefit more than just large companies and can reach small and medium enterprises as well.
"NAFTA should be much more exhaustive in the topics it covers, which means we are planning to include topics such as e-commerce, the environment and labor," she added. "This renegotiation is an opportunity to get closer to the Mexico we want to be."
Cuevas is confident that Mexico will take away good results from the renegotiation given the number of areas where the three countries will benefit by working together on trade.
Therefore, she said, it was crucial for the Senate to have access to the right information to establish an efficient NAFTA strategy. For Cuevas, the Senate can play an important role by accompanying the government during the renegotiation.
