Canada and Mexico are “both being very difficult” in the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to President Donald Trump
Trump tweeted that the U.S. may have to terminate NAFTA, which he called “the worst trade deal ever made,” in a tweet Sunday morning.
We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada.Both being very difficult,may have to terminate?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
Representatives from the U.S, Canada and Mexico completed the first rounds of renegotiation talks Aug. 16, but the process for changing the trade deal could take months and drag on into next year. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that “negotiations will continue at this rapid pace.”
If the negotiations fail to meet Trump’s standards, the president will likely push to withdraw from the trade agreement entirely, something he floated during his presidential campaign and during his time as president. (RELATED: Trump Renews Threat To Dismantle NAFTA At Phoenix Rally)
“I want to be clear that [President Trump] is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions and a couple of updated chapters,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Aug. 20, according to CNN. “We feel that NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement.”
The overarching goal of negotiations is to “upgrade our agreement and establish 21st century standards to the benefit of our citizens,” the USTR said in a statement.
Trump’s major criticism of NAFTA remains that too many manufacturing jobs have been sent overseas and that Mexico has benefitted far more from the trade deal than the U.S. Mexico sends more of its goods to America than the U.S. sells south of the border, leading to a trade deficit of $46.5 billion as of May.
Other sectors of the economy, like most agriculture producers and farmers who mainly supported Trump in the election, have benefitted greatly from the trade deal and would be disappointed to see it end.
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