NAFTA schedule: A cabinet dinner to launch seven rounds of trade talks
WASHINGTON — A high-level dinner of cabinet members from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will mark the start of NAFTA negotiations this month, followed by a seven-course diet of negotiating rounds crammed in rapid succession.
As their negotiating teams arrive in Washington for the talks starting Aug. 16, sources say the cabinet members leading the process, including Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, will hold a dinner to mark the occasion.
Sources say the schedule will then feature seven rounds of talks by the end of the year, held at a far more frenzied pace than is the norm for international trade discussions in the hope of concluding a continental trade deal before the Mexican election campaign next year.
The opening round will be held Aug. 16-20 in Washington, Mexico will host the second a few weeks later, then Canada will host the third. In the initial session, officials will prioritize the easiest issues: settling on a meeting agenda, on the number of negotiating groups, and on how to compile an agreement text.