The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that a 12-country transpacific trading bloc must guarantee that half the content of cars is locally made within the group, say Mexican officials. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that failure to agree with Mexico on rules for automaking was a key stumbling block when negotiators fell short of a deal for the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the end of July. Mexican officials have expressed confidence a deal can be reached in the coming weeks, but car manufacturing remains a sticking point, and upcoming elections in Canada this year and the United States in 2016 risk complicating matters. The head of AMIA, the Mexican automakers' association, said the content of vehicles, engines and transmissions had to be sourced "at least 50 per cent" from within the bloc to ensure the principal beneficiaries of the deal were member countries. "A lower rule would allow more input from outside the region to be brought in," says AMIA president Eduardo Solis. Mexico is trying to agree to TPP auto terms that are close to rules for the North American free-trade agreement, which stipulate that 62.5 per cent of the net cost should be local.