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NAFTA PARTNERS MEXICO, Canada and the United States plan to swiftly renegotiate their free trade deal, the White House announced last night.
President Donald Trump “agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly… to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal,” a statement said.
The announcement came after reports in US media that Trump was considering giving formal notice of pulling the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
A draft executive order was in the final stages of review, two White House officials told the Politico news website, and could be unveiled within a week or two. The New York Times had quoted a senior administration official saying Trump was likely to sign such an executive order.
But late last night Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross brushed off the reports as “rumour.”
“There was a rumour today that there would be an executive order, just a rumuor, and my practice is to comment on things we have actually done or are doing as opposed to commenting on rumours,” he said.
Disaster
Trump calls NAFTA, established 1 January, 1994, a “disaster” and has pledged to renegotiate the terms or abandon the pact altogether.
He blames NAFTA for the loss of millions of US industrial jobs, mostly to Mexico.
His administration also slapped tariffs in recent days on some imports of Canadian timber and threatened to retaliate against Canadian moves that harm US dairy farmers. Timber and milk, however, are not covered by NAFTA.
The softwood lumber dispute between Washington and Ottawa has also seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, with US producers accusing their Canadian counterparts of exporting lumber at subsidised prices, harming US businesses.
The lumber is a major part of the massive US construction and home-building industry — an economic bellwether. Most US homes are made with wood framing and some entirely of wood.
Earlier this week, the US Commerce Department announced it was imposing tariffs of up to 24% on Canadian softwood lumber.
Canada’s dairy sector is protected by tariffs on imports and controls on domestic production as a way to support prices for the country’s farmers.
The latest dairy trade row was triggered when Canada extended those policies to apply to ultrafiltered milk, a product used in cheese production and at the center of a thriving US export business.
The White House statement said Trump spoke late Wednesday with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.
“Both conversations were pleasant and productive,” it said.
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Why should us companies be allowed to move their manufacturing to Mexico ship the same product back to the USA without paying any tariffs ? Who does this benefit ? It’s not the employees or the US tax payers !
@Mrs M: consumers. Let’s see how americans like paying more for their goods.
@Dave Thomas: They’ll only have to pay more if they want to buy Canadian goods. Buy American.
@Big Lee: Canada is in North America
@Big Lee: What Canadian & Mexican products do they use and would they be willing to pay more for ? Oil ? Auto parts?Wood? Tomatoes ? Does the USA want to lose out on tourism ? Yikes! MAGA ! Yikes again!
@Mrs M: it’s simple, cheaper to make it in Mexico then sell it cheaper in the US. Mexico benefits from employment, US consumers benefit from a cheaper product than if it was made in the US.
Stephen you dope
@B9xiRspG: And if Mexico benefits from employment,you then have less people crossing into the US ..
@Francis Mc Carthy: already happening
“US-Mexico illegal border crossings fall to 17-year low”
@Ronan Gallagher: Ronan you dope
@Big Lee :
Thanks to Obama again! ‘MadeAmericaGreatAgain’
PS. When is that magnificent “wall” going to be built ?
@Big Lee: Looks like we won’t be needing that wall then !
@Big Lee: It’s been falling for a long time
It’s gonna be great.. we are gonna get the best deal … Blah blah blah
@Stephen Devlin: Yuge.
How do they renegotiate something they benefit from immensley. They had 2 option. Cheap price on goods due to low labour costs or jobs.
President Trump getting tough on trade just as he had promised he would do.
@Big Lee: maybe it’ll be better than his other attempts to do things.
@Dave Thomas:
BREAKING: “North Korea agrees to first ever UN rights expert visit”
http://www.rte.ie/news/world/2017/0427/870712-north-korea/
President Trump getting more results.
@Big Lee: wasn’t he suppose to abolish this not renegotiate it? Maybe I’m wrong.
@jane: You are wrong, he said dozens of times he would attempt to renegotiate terms and if that failed then he would withdraw from it entirely, just as he did with the disasterous TPP.
@Big Lee: fair enough
@Big Lee: troll
Well all the experts on CNN BBC and RTE say can’t stop globalisation stupid even to try…..They might be wrong…
@John003: They’re technically right as it would take some extreme measures (think North Korea) to totally isolate yourself. That being said, the idea of fully open borders with unrestricted trade everywhere is laughably flawed and ignores basic human nature.
@John003: same “experts” who said Brexit would never happen and Trump would never be President.
@Big Lee: yeah we’ve all had enough of experts. Dear universities, you can stop the research, we’re done….
@Tony Canning: They’ve no one to blame but themselves. Keep getting these big calls so wrong and people will continue to react with growing scepticism.
@Big Lee: Does he have to import the tiny pens he needs to sign these things or are they Made in America too?
Free trade has led to growing inequality in Western countries. Wages are suppressed by migration of cheap labour, as well as cheap imports of goods and services like textiles from the Far East.
The WTO will tell him what he can and can’t do, he will find that out soon enough?
*Steve Bannon Likes This*
Another bigly failure. Sad!
Lets make it very clear… Placing tariffs on Mexico will cost US jobs… Simple Economics…
US manufacturers are going to have to pay a tax on the goods the recieve from other countries and that has to be passed on.
Trump vowed to improve existing trade deals and abandon new ones.
Word to your mutha.
Bozonomics… yuge.
We also need protectionism in the EU.
Very very folks… very, very. Yuuuge…! Honk,honk!
Another F Up
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