NAFTA Talks Will End in Agreement

The North American Free Trade Agreement will probably be renegotiated successfully with only marginal changes, said a large majority of economists in a Reuters poll, despite the Trump administration’s saber-rattling. Only four of 45 economists polled this week said they thought the deal would be terminated, with the rest expecting an updated trilateral agreement that would not differ radically from the current one. The remarkably sanguine view from economists in Mexico, Canada and the United States is a sign many experts are taking US President Donald Trump’s repeated warnings that he wants his country to withdraw from the pact, which he has repeatedly said is unfair to American businesses, with a grain of salt. The sixth and penultimate round of talks to revamp the agreement underpinning more than $1 trillion per year in trade among the three countries will begin in Montreal on Tuesday. The agenda is likely to include a proposal to mandate more auto manufacturing in the United States, a dispute settlement mechanism and a five-year sunset clause.