The United States, Canada, and Mexico each are moving ahead with preparations for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”), with the first round of talks to take place in Washington from August 16-20. All of the NAFTA countries appear to agree that opportunities exist—and that common ground can be found to update NAFTA, which entered into force almost a quarter century ago. In the interim, the internet and the digital economy have taken hold, changing the way that businesses operate; China has joined the World Trade Organization (“WTO”), significantly affecting the international trading landscape; labor policies have become commonplace in trading agreements, expanding the scope of new trading agreements; and the realities of a North American region have taken root, affecting the way that companies source and manufacture their goods. This Alert aims to provide a brief overview of the approaches that Canada, Mexico, and the United States may adopt when negotiations begin next month.

Renegotiation Objectives Of The United States -

The United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) this week published its objectives for renegotiating NAFTA. The document covers the following 24 areas: industrial goods, agricultural products, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (“SPS measures”), customs and trade facilitation, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade (“TBT measures”), good regulatory practices, services (including specific objectives for telecommunications and financial services), e-commerce, investment, intellectual property, transparency, state owned enterprises (“SOEs”), competition policy, labor, environment,anti-corruption, trade remedies, government procurement, small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”), energy, dispute settlement, general exceptions, and currency manipulation.