‘There are no fireworks’: The hunt for news in a ho-hum NAFTA round
MEXICO CITY — The latest round of NAFTA talks has begun without any substantive negotiating on key sticking points in a low-key meeting contrasting markedly with the previous round filled with bombshell demands and public scoldings.
Sources said it was unlikely any major counter-demands would be tabled as negotiating teams began meeting on Saturday in key topic areas that figured in the acrimony of the previous round.
Agriculture and rules-of-origin groups began four days of talks but people familiar with the negotiations downplayed the likelihood that Canada would offer a response to American requests on dairy and auto parts at this round.
At the outset of a round projected to be a status-quo affair on the most contentious files, there was a similar lack of movement on Buy American rules, as attempts to get the U.S. to budge yielded nothing.