MEXICO CITY, July 18 (Reuters) - Mexico's economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday he was concerned that the United States was still insisting on reducing trade deficits in the objectives it set out for the renegotiation of the NAFTA trade deal on Monday.

Speaking on Mexican television by phone from Japan, Guajardo likened what he called the U.S. "insistence" on cutting its trade deficits with its NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada to a somewhat "mercantilist" vision of international trade.

"What I have said insistently in my conversations with my colleagues is that we're delighted to review trade balances provided that we focus on how to improve them by expanding commerce, not by reducing it," Guajardo said.

"What is positive is that (the United States) themselves paraphrased that they won't reintroduce quotas or tariffs during this process (of renegotiation)," the minister added. (Reporting by Dave Graham)