The United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), putting pressure on Canada to agree to the new terms on auto trade and other issues to remain part of the three-nation pact. President Trump and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said talks with Canada would begin immediately. The Mexico-U.S. discussions focused on crafting new rules for the automotive industry. A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada would continue to negotiate, but would only sign a new agreement that is good for the country. The United States, Mexico and Canada do more than 1 trillion dollars in trade between them every year. Trump is expected to send formal notice to the U.S. Congress by the end of the week about his intentions to sign a new trade agreement within 90 days, which would give Mexico’s Pena Nieto time to sign it before he leaves office, the senior U.S. trade official said. U.S., Mexican and Canadian stocks opened higher on Monday on optimism about a trade deal.
