MEXICO CITY (AFP) – The renegotiation of the NAFTA trade agreement is still on track and could “accelerate” after the US mid-term elections in November, Mexico’s next finance minister, Carlos Urzua, said Wednesday.
Mr Urzua, a respected academic tapped by president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to head his economic team, said he was optimistic on the talks, dismissing speculation that Mexico’s newly elected leftist president would throw a wrench in the works.
“We are confident that after the (US mid-term) elections in November, things could accelerate very quickly,” Mr Urzua told Mexican TV network Televisa, adding that a deal was possible by the end of the year.
“President Tump just has to give the go-ahead,” he said.
Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment firebrand, was elected in a landslide victory Sunday, promising to bring “profound change” to Mexico. He takes office on December 1, the first leftist president in recent history.
A free-trade skeptic, he has raised new doubts about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico and Canada. The deal is already under attack by US President Donald Trump, who has insisted on overhauling it.
