The U.S. and Mexico are nearing an agreement on the trade of automobiles as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation effort. Politico reports the U.S. and Mexico are in the “final stages” of reaching a deal on the automotive rules of origin section of NAFTA, key to completing the renegotiation. A team of negotiators is in Washington, D.C. this week to continue the talks. However, other issues within the negotiations, including a sunset provision and dispute settlement, along with dairy trade, remain unsettled. President Trump has leaned towards striking a deal with Mexico first, before moving on to hashing out details with Canada. However, officials from Canada and Mexico agree that any final deal would be trilateral between the three nations. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said last week that finishing the talks with Mexico could put pressure on Canada to reach an agreement. Scrapping Canada’s dairy supply management system, a goal for the U.S. as part of the negotiations, remains “unacceptable,” according to trade officials from Canada.

Providing aid to industries impacted by negative trade policy could cost the nation $39 billion, according to new data by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Farmers are expected to receive a $12 billion aid package to lessen the burden of trade disputes by the Trump administration. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls farmers and ranchers the “hardest hit” by Trump’s trade policy, suffering deep economic losses. However, agriculture is not alone, and an analysis by the U.S. Chamber found that offering so-called bailouts to all industries affected by trade policies would cost taxpayers $39 billion. The Chamber says the administration’s focus should be expanding free trade and removing harmful tariffs, “not allocating taxpayer’s money to only marginally ease the suffering” for some of the industries feeling the pain of the trade war. Farmers and ranchers in unison have told the Trump administration they want trade, not aid.

The aid package announced to offset harm by the Trump administration’s trade policy for agriculture could be ready to go by October, according to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. While in Argentina as part of the G20 meeting of agriculture ministers, Perdue told Reuters the aid package could have payments reaching farmers by late September. The plan would include between $7 billion and $8 billion in direct cash relief as the Department of Agriculture expects U.S. farmers to take an $11 billion hit due to retaliatory tariffs after Washington placed duties on Chinese goods. However, Perdue cautioned: “Obviously this is not going to make farmers whole.” Checks will go out to farmers “as soon as they prove their yields,” according to Perdue, who says the yields will be based on actual production, not historical averages. The program is a response to trade tariffs implemented on U.S. agriculture goods for the 2018 crop year only, as Perdue says “we do not expect to do this over a period of time.”

During congressional testimony on Thursday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers that it’s entirely possible that the three North American Free Trade Agreement members will reach a deal in August. Lighthizer says that would meet the Mexican objective of having current President Enrique Pena Nieto sign the deal before he leaves office in December. Bloomberg says U.S. trade law requires a three-month waiting period before the parties can sign off on the deal. Should the three countries not reach a deal until September or later, the incoming President of Mexico would have to sign off on it after he takes office. Lighthizer says Canada may be the sticking point in reaching a new NAFTA agreement. “My hope is that we’ll have a quick resolution with Mexico, and, as a result of that, Canada may come in more willing to compromise,” Lighthizer said in testimony. The current Mexican Economy Minister says it is possible they will reach a deal with the U.S. in August. The chief NAFTA negotiator for the incoming government says he’s more “cautiously optimistic” about the direction of the talks.

The European Union says that the proposed trade talks with the United States wouldn’t include farming. The website Business Times Dot Com says this directly contradicts what President Donald Trump says. An EU Commission spokeswoman says they’ve been very clear on that fact. The spokeswoman adds that agriculture is not part of it, only the things that were specifically mentioned in the statement that came out Thursday. “The joint statement shows no mention of agriculture, as such you’ll see a mention of farmers and a mention of soybeans, which are part of the discussion,” says Mina Andreeva. “That is part of the discussion and we will follow up on that.” The EU clarification comes one day after the president called the agreement a “major victory for U.S. farmers,” who’ve seen plummeting exports due to Washington’s trade policies. Trump told a rally in Iowa that “We’ve just opened up Europe for you farmers.” The EU may be feeling pressure to emphasize that there was no farming concession made to Trump because of opposition in Europe to more genetically modified imports from America.

President Trump says his administration is “very close” to approving the year-round sale of the E15 blend of ethanol very soon. During a trip to Iowa on Thursday, Trump told the audience, “I’m very close to pulling off something that you’ve been looking forward to for many years, and that’s the 12-month E15 waiver. We’re getting very close to doing that.” The Quad City Times says Trump called the process “very complex.” The President noted that he stuck with ethanol, saying most of the other candidates “weren’t there, to put it mildly.” Pro-ethanol group Growth Energy says, “We are pleased to hear President Trump say he’s ‘very close’ to making E15 available year-round, fulfilling his promise to America’s farmers.” Growth Energy says increased access to U.S. markets will provide America’s farmers with some financial confidence and they hope the President will direct the Environmental Protection Agency to act quickly to provide year-round RVP relief.

The Mexican negotiating team is back in Washington to continue the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation after talks among the U.S., Mexico, and Canada stalled two months ago. The Mexican Economy Minister will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for the first time since the Mexican presidential election on July first to formally restart the talks. A source close to the talks tells Politico there’s hope that the U.S. might have a new position in the talks. “It wouldn’t make sense to restart the talks if there’s no change in position,” the source says. A big part of this week’s meeting between the U.S. and Mexico will be to see if the U.S. “has found a way to work through the challenges with Mexico.” There is some skepticism that may be the case. A vice president with the National Trade Council doesn’t see how Lighthizer will back down, saying “he’s been pretty consistent on the poison pill issues.” Mexico and Canada both shut down the idea on Wednesday that the NAFTA renegotiation could be split into two bilateral deals with the U.S. in spite of President Trump’s repeated comments that the U.S. could reach a deal with Mexico first.