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23 J. Int'l Econ. L. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/jiel23 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of International Economic Law, 2020, 23,1-23 doi: 10.1093/jiel/jgz029 Advance Access Publication Date: 9 February 2020 Article Trumping Capacity Gap with Negotiation Strategies: the Mexican USMCA Negotiation Experience Amrita Bahri* and Monica Lugo* ABSTRACT In the past few months, we have witnessed the 'worst deal' in the history of the USA become the 'best deal' in the history of the USA. The negotiation leading to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) appeared as an 'asymmetrical exchange' scenario that could have led to an unbalanced outcome for Mexico. However, Mexico stood firm on its positions and negotiated a modernized version of North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexico faced various challenges during this renegotiation, not only because it was required to negotiate with two developed countries but also due to the high level of ambition and demands raised by the new US administration. This paper provides an account of these impediments. More importantly, it analyzes the strategies that Mexico used to overcome the resource constraints it faced amidst the unpredictable political dilemma in the US and at home. In this manner, this paper seeks to provide a blueprint of strategies that other developing countries could employ to overcome their negotiation capacity constraints, especially when they are dealing with developed countries and in uncertain political environments. INTRODUCTION Many regional trade negotiations, including the recent renegotiation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), have shown that developing countries in such negotiations can play a defensive role and resist ambitious proposals from developed countries with stronger economies. They can also be offensive and table new proposals to promote their interests. Moreover, the Seattle Ministerial in 1999, together with the Doha Ministerial in 2001 and the Bali Ministerial in 2013 have shown that developing countries can not only negotiate powerfully and influence outcomes * Dr. Amrita Bahri Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM), Co-Chairholder, WTO Chair Pro- gram for Mexico; Monica Lugo, Deputy Director General, Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Former Nego- tiator of USMCA. E-mail: amrita.bahri(aitam.mx. We would like to thank Kenneth Smith Ramos, Moises Kalach, Bosco de la Vega and Eugenio Salinas for their inputs and support in identifying the interviewees for this project. Thanks to Jorge Cerdio, Mauricio Guim,JohannaJacobsson and Jorge Miranda for reviewing this piece and for their invaluable comments. We also thank our brilliant research assistant, Guillermo Moad, who assisted us throughout this research process. All errors or omissions are authors' own. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissionspoup.com . 1

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