Are NAFTA talks on life-support? That's the question being raised after the fifth round of discussions in Mexico City ended Nov. 21. Following the talks, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer lamented "the lack of headway" made and that Canada and Mexico were unwilling to "seriously engage on provisions that would lead to a rebalanced agreement." Canada's lead negotiator, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, reiterated the Canadian stance that the United States' proposals were "extreme" ones that Ottawa could "simply not agree to." The participants' sour tones were not unexpected; the same sticking points that stalled the fourth round of talks , which took place in October, carried over into this latest round. The most controversial issue among them was a U.S. proposal for the automotive sector to require 50 percent of a product's value-add to come from the United States to qualify for NAFTA.