The United States, Mexico and Canada are yet to resolve major issues around NAFTA, casting doubt that the quick deal sought by Washington would materialise.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday met with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo for several hours, but made clear there was a lack of consensus on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"We are going to keep on working until we get a good deal," she told reporters in Washington.
Lighthizer, citing the need to reach a deal an agreement before the Mexican presidential election on July 1, says he wants the outlines of a deal soon to update the regional trade agreement.
US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to walk away from the $US1.2 trillion pact unless major changes are made, has said the three nations should have something to announce fairly soon.
Unveiling the outlines of a deal -- which Canadian and Mexican officials had initially suggested might happen at a regional summit in Peru next week -- would allow leaders to claim a political victory while leaving officials to work out the precise details in the months to come.
It would also enable Trump and his trade team to focus on a widening trade dispute with China that could hurt the world's two biggest economies.
But there are major challenges to overcome, in particular a contentious US demand that the North American content of vehicles made in NAFTA countries be increased to 85 per cent from 62.5 per cent.
Talks to modernise NAFTA started last August but have made little progress, prompting the US to suggest at the end of the seventh formal round last month that the three nations aim in the first instance for a deal in-principle.
The lack of clarity over the pact's future has hit the Canadian and Mexican currencies in recent months as well as worried financial markets, which are on edge about possible damage to the highly integrated North American market.
Share
