Washington, DC. The Trump Administration who just months back said it would not challenge the NAFTA trade agreement, is now doing another legendary U-turn and doing just that.
The Trump Administration today has re launched a negotiation of the NAFTA trade agreement. The administration of US President Donald Trump formally launched the process of renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), White House pool reporters announced.
The Trump administration on Thursday formally notified Congress of its intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, a step forward on a campaign promise that was widely popular among voters but has unsettled the American companies that have built their industries around the trade deal’s provisions that allow fat cat corporations to use cheap labor outside the USA, at the expense of American workers.
The notification starts the clock on a 90-day period in which Congress will consult with the administration about its plans. Negotiations with Canada and Mexico begin as soon as August of this year, the administration said.
In a call with reporters Thursday morning, U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer stressed that the administration hopes to renegotiate the deal, rather than scrap it altogether.
At the end of April, Donald Trump just had a conversation with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during which he decided not to take the country out of the NAFTA.
On the campaign trail and in office, President Trump derided NAFTA as a “horrible deal for the United States,” “the worst trade deal maybe ever,” and “a defective agreement.”
The arguments were popular with voters, but businesses and some congressmen have expressed reservations about the plan to renegotiate, fearing that missteps from the administration could lead to unintended consequences and impair valuable export markets.