FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2017 file photo, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, left, with Mexico's Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, right, speaks during the conclusion of the fourth round of negotiations for a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Washington. Gathering strength for a potentially brutal trade war with China, the United States is trying to patch things up with its friends. U.S. and Mexican negotiators are meeting Thursday and Friday to work on a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- a deal that looked virtually dead a few months ago. And last week the Trump administration reached a cease-fire with Europe in a dispute over autos.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)