Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said the nation will propose a review of the North American Free Trade Agreement every five years, on the condition that the evaluation not lead to automatic withdrawal from the deal.
The proposal comes after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration proposed a sunset clause, under which NAFTA would expire after five years unless the parties can agree to extend it. Guajardo told Radio Formula station on Wednesday that the clause is unnecessary because any of the nations already has the ability to withdraw by giving six months’ notice.
“We’re going to bring a proposal that every five years we evaluate what has been happening with an agenda of analysis of what effects our agreement has had, and based on this each country can decide what they want to do going forward,” Guajardo said. “But it wouldn’t have the impact of a sudden death, because this would send a bad signal to investors.”
The Mexican peso pared its loss following Guajardo’s comments, falling 0.3 percent to 19.2289 per dollar in afternoon trading in Mexico City.
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(Cyntia Barrera Diaz contributed to this report)
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