Adoption of New NAFTA Deal May Slip to 2019, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The adoption of the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) may take place in 2019 as US President Donald Trump is focused on striking a beneficial deal, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday.

On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the United States, Canada and Mexico were close to reaching agreement on a renegotiated NAFTA. However, Washington said the same day that the talks on NAFTA were "nowhere close" to an agreement, according to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

"The president is more determined to have a good deal then he is worried about any deadline. So, whether we pass it in this Congress or whether we pass it in a new Congress, the president is determined that we negotiate NAFTA," Mnuchin told the Fox News broadcaster, when asked whether the new agreement would be adopted by the US Congress in 2018.

Despite the fact that the talks are still far away from a new deal, the United States still aims to seal an agreement, the official underlined.

The current NAFTA agreement has been in place since 1994. Trump has repeatedly threatened to leave NAFTA if a better agreement is not negotiated between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The three states have been negotiating an update of NAFTA since 2017.