Mexico to lobby US to scrap steel, aluminum tariffs before signing new NAFTA: official

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico plans to lobby Washington to scrap tariffs on imported steel and aluminum before it signs a new trilateral trade agreement with the United States and Canada, a top Mexican official said on Monday.

"We have put it on the table that we cannot get to the signing without getting to a solution, because it would be illogical for there to be a tariff attack that went unresolved," Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on a morning TV news show.

The tariffs also affect Canada which, along with Mexico and the United States, is slated to sign an updated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), now called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), by the end of November.

In June, Washington imposed steep import tariffs on steel (25 percent) and aluminum (10 percent) from Mexico, Canada and the European Union.

"It's a matter of principle, and our idea is to work on it over the next two months to put a solution on the table and eliminate them," said Guajardo.

The minister was Mexico's head negotiator to the trade talks, which concluded Sunday night after a year and a month of talks. The text of the new agreement is to be submitted to each country's congress for approval before leaders sign the USMCA into law, possibly on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 summit to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov 30 to Dec 1.

"It's the only place where I would see the three presidents coinciding, simultaneously, in time for this," said Guajardo, adding the deal could also be signed by each country's respective trade representative.

Guajardo described the USMCA as a "latest generation" trade pact that benefits the North American region.

US President Donald Trump campaigned on a platform to renegotiate NAFTA, in place since 1994, saying the agreement gave unfair advantage to Mexico and Canada.