--- title: Mexico's New President Calls on Trump to Resume NAFTA Talks description: Mexico president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump to pursue NAFTA negotiations. canonical: https://time.com/5345472/mexico-president-obrador-trump-nafta/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-22T20:08:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:55:14.600Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mexico's New President Obrador Calls on President Trump to Resume NAFTA Negotiations og:description: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said delaying could be harmful og:url: https://time.com/5345472/mexico-president-obrador-trump-nafta/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ff969caf74a9ea8/698935f097cdff57cf6b5cac/mexico-president-trump-trade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4800 og:image:height: 2700 og:image:alt: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Francisco Cervantes Diaz Press Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mexico's New President Obrador Calls on President Trump to Resume NAFTA Negotiations twitter:description: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said delaying could be harmful twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ff969caf74a9ea8/698935f097cdff57cf6b5cac/mexico-president-trump-trade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mexico's New President Obrador Calls on President Trump to Resume NAFTA Negotiations > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Justin Villamil / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Justin Villamil / Bloomberg Contributor Jul 22, 2018 8:08 PM UTC  Newly elected President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a press conference after a meeting between himself and President of the CONCAMIN Francisco Cervantes Diaz at Hyatt Regency Polanco hotel on July 9, 2018 in Mexico City, Mexico. Newly elected President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a press conference after a meeting between himself and President of the CONCAMIN Francisco Cervantes Diaz at Hyatt Regency Polanco hotel on July 9, 2018 in Mexico City, Mexico. Carlos Tischler—Getty Images by [Justin Villamil / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Justin Villamil / Bloomberg Contributor Jul 22, 2018 8:08 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — Mexico president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called on U.S. President Donald Trump to pursue renewed North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations aimed at a final agreement including all three countries in the pact. In a letter to Trump, delivered July 13 and read aloud by his proposed foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard at a press conference Sunday, Lopez Obrador said U.S. and Mexican administrations should work together on key themes including trade. Other areas mentioned by Lopez Obrador included migration, development and security. “Prolonging the uncertainty could slow down investments in the medium and long-term,” Lopez Obrador wrote in the letter, which was posted to his website. “I propose to resume negotiations with the participation of representatives from Mexico, Canada and the United States.” Trump said July 18 that he may prioritize a separate trade deal with Mexico after “very good discussions” with Lopez Obrador. The U.S., Mexico and Canada have failed to nail down a deal to alter Nafta after almost a year of talks, with wide differences remaining over such issues as auto-content rules and a sunset clause. Lopez Obrador said that his transition team would begin working with the current government’s negotiators. The president-elect will be inaugurated Dec. 1 after decisively winning presidential elections at the beginning of this month. The letter also called on the U.S. to work with Mexico and Central American countries on a development plan that would address the root causes of migration. The initiative would try to tackle poverty and violence that forced people to migrate in the first place, and strengthen borders. He suggested a fund that would foster development in the region. Lopez Obrador said the Trump administration has received the letter, and a response is expected soon. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5345472/mexico-president-obrador-trump-nafta/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5345472/mexico-president-obrador-trump-nafta/"},"headline":"Mexico's New President Obrador Calls on President Trump to Resume NAFTA Negotiations","datePublished":"2018-07-22T20:08:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:55:14.600Z","description":"Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said delaying could be harmful","url":"https://time.com/5345472/mexico-president-obrador-trump-nafta/","keywords":["trade","Mexico","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ff969caf74a9ea8/698935f097cdff57cf6b5cac/mexico-president-trump-trade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Villamil / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ff969caf74a9ea8/698935f097cdff57cf6b5cac/mexico-president-trump-trade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Francisco Cervantes Diaz Press Conference","caption":"Mexico's president-elect speaks at a press conference","creditText":"Carlos Tischler—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trade/","name":"trade"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5345472/mexico-president-obrador-trump-nafta/","name":"Mexico's New President Obrador Calls on President Trump to Resume NAFTA Negotiations"}}]}] ```