An encouraging development surrounding the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement has auto-parts makers storming out of the gates early on Wednesday. Canada-based Magna International Inc. and Linamar Corp., as well as U.S.-based Lear Corp., are all up more than 1 percent.
The Toronto Globe and Mail, citing people with knowledge of the talks, reported that the U.S. has dropped a demand that Canadian and Mexican cars exported stateside must contain at least 50 percent U.S. content, which would seemingly remove a hurdle to completing renegotiations of the trade pact among the three countries. All of those North American car-part stocks had come under acute pressure in early January following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump was getting closer to exiting Nafta.