In a talk at Georgetown University, the Mexican Ambassador, Gerónimo Gutiérrez, expressed optimism for the future of the U.S.-Mexico relations, despite areas of frustration, characterizing Mexico’s stance toward President Trump as one of “strategic patience.” Among the Ambassador’s top concerns is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump vowed to renegotiate.
“The Mexican government has, in a sense, exercised strategic patience in trying to cope with a series of issues during the past months, that’s the instruction that we received from [Mexican] President [Enrique] Peña Nieto. That’s where we will continue to be,” said Gutiérrez.
Trump told a group of business executives on Tuesday that he would have “pleasant surprises” regarding NAFTA. Gutiérrez said that despite “good initial meetings” between Mexican and U.S. officials on trade, the negotiations have started stalling and have been slow to move forward.
“The past few months, we think we’ve seen things improve a little,” Gutiérrez said about relations between the two neighbors. “And although we are still very far from where Mexico believes we should be, the prospect, certainly, of having a good deal in the future have improved.”
One of the potential factors slowing down the negotiation process is the wait on a trade representative; the Senate Finance Committee postponed taking up the nomination of Trump’s pick to lead the Office of U.S. Trade, Robert Lighthizer. White House press secretary Sean Spicer announced on Monday that talks on NAFTA will resume after Lighthizer’s confirmation.
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