North American automakers call for NAFTA talks to resume

US, Canadian and Mexican auto industry groups have urged their governments to resume stalled efforts to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Talks to revamp the trilateral NAFTA deadlocked in February after more than six months, as Ottawa and Mexico flatly rejected Washington's calls for a five-year sunset clause on the agreement as well as steep new US-content requirements for autos.

Mexico's presidential elections early this month left the governments with little time to maneuver, so the talks were halted.

And while there were some concerns about whether anti-establishment leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador would scrap NAFTA altogether, since winning the presidency he has vowed to work towards revising the trade pact.

The joint statement from the auto industry groups in the three nations urged political leaders to take advantage of the moment to proceed with the talks, even though AMLO will not take office until December.

"As a new government forms in Mexico on December 1st, 2018, we believe now is the time for all parties to return to the negotiating table with a renewed commitment to the modernisation of a cohesive three-country NAFTA agreement," the statement said yesterday.

"We have a great opportunity to update this trade agreement and it is in the best interest of all three countries to refocus on establishing a new NAFTA agreement that will allow the North American auto industry to remain globally competitive."