Fifth round of NAFTA negotiations in Mexico City 

November 15, 2017 – Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The NAFTA Chief Negotiators confirmed today that although the fifth round of NAFTA negotiations will formally begin on November 17, 2017, some negotiating groups will begin meeting on November 15. Nearly 30 negotiating groups will be meeting during the fifth round, which will conclude on November 21.

The three NAFTA ministers—the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, and Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative—agreed at the end of round four to allow more space between rounds in order to provide negotiators with enough time to analyze the proposals that all three countries have tabled so far and to conduct internal consultations.

In addition, the NAFTA ministers met separately at the recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, and instructed the NAFTA Chief Negotiators to focus on advancing discussions on tabled proposals as much as possible. Given the substantive discussions held between the ministers at APEC, the ministers agreed not to attend the fifth round so negotiators can continue to make important progress on key chapters advanced in round four.

The Chief Negotiators from Mexico, the United States and Canada will be in constant communication with their respective ministers and will report on the progress reached in round five.

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