Washington, DC. In yet another 360 degree turn from what was promised to American voters in campaign 2016, Donald Trump has said that rather than end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), he will now simply re-negotiate it.
President Donald Trump has said he will try to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rather than “terminate” it, as he had previously promised American voters in campaign 2016.
The President said that he had been planning to “terminate Nafta as of two or three days from now,” but had been persuaded to reconsider, which he acknowledged “would be a pretty big, you know, shock to the system.” Causing many to speculate yet again, US policy is being run by daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
President Trump explained further, “Now, if I’m unable to make a fair deal, if I’m unable to make a fair deal for the United States, meaning a fair deal for our workers and our companies, I will terminate Nafta. But we’re going to give renegotiation a good, strong shot.” He concluded new NAFTA talks were “starting today.”
All of this came after the President had tweeted about a softening of his position. “I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate Nafta rather than terminate,” Mr Trump said in a tweet. “I agreed, subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA. Relationships are good-deal very possible!”
President Trump had escalated his rhetoric on Nafta in recent days, even slapping his administration’s’ first sanctions on Canadian imports. At an executive order signing in Wisconsin, he said NAFTA had been “very, very bad for our companies and for our workers,” and promised to “make some very big changes” or “get rid of NAFTA once and for all.”
American political experts say this again proves the US is not being led by an independent, strong executive, but a man depending mainly on outside advisers, who voters never had a say in their ascension to power.