NAFTA trade rolls on without deal

The latest round of talks between the U.S. and Mexico on a potential bilateral pact is set to continue this weekend.    The total value of cross-border trade between the United States and its partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement — Canada and Mexico — continued to grow in June, climbing another 6.3 percent to $106.07 billion compared with the same month a year ago, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
   Year-over-year growth has been posted in each of the last 20 months for which after-the-fact data is available, despite ongoing negotiations among the United States, Mexico and Canada to revise the 24-year-old free trade deal.
   The June growth was slightly slower than the 9.2 percent pace seen in May and 11.3 percent rate in April, but still outstripped March’s 5.5 percent year-over-year increase.
   The latest BTS figures come as negotiators from Mexico and the United States are meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss a potential bilateral pact.
   Media reports earlier this week indicated that the two sides had made significant progress and could announce a “handshake” deal as early as Thursday that would clear the way for Canada, which has been conspicuously absent from the latest NAFTA negotiations, to rejoin talks.
   Ildefonso Guajardo, the secretary of economy of Mexico, however, poured some cold water on those reports Thursday, telling reporters that although progress had been made, “We’re not quite there yet.” Talks between Guajardo and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are set to continue this weekend and will likely go into next week.
   Trilateral negotiations on a revamped NAFTA began over a year ago, but have been deadlocked over outstanding issues related to tariffs, country of origin rules, dispute resolution and a potential “sunset” clause, which would require the agreement be re-evaluated every five years and allow dissatisfied parties to walk away.
   According to BTS, all five of the major freight transportation modes between the United States and Canada and Mexico carried more cargo by value during June than in the same 2017 period.
   Freight moved by vessel showed the strongest gains by far, surging 26.5 percent year-over-year to $8.02 billion, followed by cargo moved by pipeline, up 23.2 percent to $6.54 billion; air, up 6.3 percent to $4.02 billion; truck, up 5.3 percent to $66.58 billion; and rail, up 2 percent to $15.74 billion compared with June 2017.
   Trucks continued to be the most heavily utilized mode for cross-border goods movement, accounting for 59.7 percent ($34.52 billion) of the $57.81 billion in U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico during the month and 66.3 percent ($32.07 billion) of the $48.35 billion in exports, the bureau said.
   Rail remained the second-largest mode by value, moving 14.8 percent of all U.S.-NAFTA freight, followed by vessel at 7.6 percent, pipeline at 6.1 percent and air at 3.8 percent.
   Year-over-year, the value of U.S.-Canada freight flows rose 6.3 percent to $54.32 billion in June, while U.S.-Mexico trade values increased 6.5 percent to $51.84 billion.