The US, Canada and Mexico began negotiations in Washington on the reform of the world's largest free trade zone (NAFTA). The talks were insisted on by US President Donald Trump, who believes that NAFTA has a negative impact on his country's economy. This is reported by DW.

"We believe that for most Americans, the NAFTA is fundamentally unfavorable, and we need substantial improvements," said Trump commissioner for trade, Robert Lightheiser, who heads the US delegation to the talks. He stressed that first and foremost it is necessary to eliminate the huge deficit in trade with Mexico.

Because of the NAFTA, the American auto industry moved many factories to Mexico, resulting in hundreds of thousands of jobs lost in the US. Only in the auto industry, the US deficit in trade with Mexico is $ 68 billion.

The NAFTA Free Trade Agreement was finally agreed upon in 1992 and entered into force in 1994. NAFTA accounts for 25 percent of world GDP. Since the treaty entered into force, the volume of trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico has quadrupled. It is expected that the current negotiations will last until early 2018. The second round of dialogue will be held in Mexico.