Conduct of negotiations

Part of European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 8 February 2017.

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Photo of Steven Baker Steven Baker Conservative, Wycombe 2:30, 8 February 2017

I want to cheer my right hon. Friend up a little and apologise to him as I may have inadvertently failed to invite him to meet the Legatum Institute special trade commissioners who visited Parliament on Monday. The Mexican trade commissioner, who was one of the original North American Free Trade Agreement negotiators, explained to us the danger that NAFTA may need a major renegotiation under President Trump. With talk of the need to get the substance right and then get it through three Parliaments, it sounded as if it would take a terribly long time, but they think it can be concluded by October 2018. The experience of actual trade negotiators who have negotiated such agreements is that they can be done quickly.