Clashes and little progress at Nafta talks

Washington

UNITED States officials have tried in recent weeks to cool tensions over the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) by extending the timetable for renegotiating the pact and asking top officials to sit out the current round of talks in Mexico City.

But as the fifth round of talks concluded in the Mexican capital on Tuesday, tensions were still simmering, with Canada and Mexico telling the US that it would make little headway with its current approach and Mexico firing its first warning shot with a tough counterproposal.

Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, took aim at his Canadian and Mexican counterparts on Tuesday, saying that "thus far, we have seen no evidence that Canad…