Mexico seeks Nafta progress in Washington

[MEXICO CITY] Mexico's North American Free Trade Agreement negotiators looked to move toward settling the most complicated issues at hand Wednesday as they resumed talks with US officials in Washington.

Foreign minister Luis Videgaray, economics minister Ildefonso Guajardo and his successor Jesus Seade met with their US counterparts for the third week running - and said talks would continue Thursday morning.

US and Mexican officials have said they aim to conclude discussions this month.

"We are definitely going to keep on working covering all the items that we have to cover, and we added a list of things that we will be talking tomorrow," said Mr Guajardo.

"We go from less complex things to more complex things," he said.

When pressed on the thornier topics facing negotiators - such as the so-called "sunset" clause backed by US President Donald Trump, and changes to the auto industry - Mr Guajardo added that "nothing is agreed on until everything is agreed on."

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last month suggested he still favored a sunset clause in US trade agreements, requiring parties to renew them every five years.

US insistence on that provision helped derail the Nafta talks earlier this year after both Canadian and Mexican officials rejected it.

Talks on the trade agreement were first launched last year after Mr Trump demanded an overhaul of the "terrible deal," and he has threatened to pull out and then negotiate separate bilateral accords.

Canada has not participated in the talks in Washington which have been focused on resolving bilateral issues between Mexico and the United States.

However, Canada's chief negotiator and foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said on Saturday that she has been in contact with her partners.

AFP