Trump says was ‘psyched to terminate NAFTA’ but reconsidered

Mexico’s top diplomat said Thursday that President Enrique Pena Nieto’s government immediately launched a diplomatic full-court press.

Analysts said renegotiating NAFTA is the lesser evil for Trump.

“I like both of these gentlemen very much”, Trump said.

“They asked me to renegotiate”.

The Trump administration also announced potentially significant reforms to the USA tax landscape.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross accused Canada of “dumping lumber” onto US markets, and said this wouldn’t happen “if NAFTA were functioning properly”.

In a release, the NPPC stated, “Mexico and Canada are now our No. 2 and No. 4 markets, so we absolutely must not have any disruptions to USA pork exports there…”

Trump has repeatedly cast doubt over the deal’s future, calling it the worst in history.

Trump railed against the decades-old trade deal during his campaign, describing it a “disaster”.

If the lumber tariffs are the opening shot in what becomes a broader trade war with Canada, American consumers can expect to pay higher prices for a wide range of essential goods. “It shows that I do have a very big farmer base, which is good”, Trump told The Washington Post.

Donald Trump might have reached the White House on his self-proclaimed status as a great negotiator, but trade policy experts say his recent about-face on NAFTA could leave the United States in a position of political and economic weakness. I think we’ll be successful in the renegotiation, which, frankly, would be good because it would be simpler.

To get the facts, KENS 5 spoke to Libby Hambleton in U.S. Senator John Cornyn’s office and Chris Bryan at the state comptroller’s office. NAFTA erased most trade and tariff barriers between the neighbors, but Trump and other critics have blamed it for deep US job cuts. The U.S. has also ordered new tariffs on Canadian lumber, which the Trump administration argues has been unfairly subsidized by the Canadian government.

The trade attacks prompted Justin Trudeau to call up the American president two days in a row. For Michigan, Canada is its No. 1 partner; bi-lateral trade totals $72 billion. Bannon already is seen as being on the outs with Trump over reportedly sparring with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

President Trump backed away those statements following “pleasant and productive” conversations with Canadian and Mexican leaders.

Many Americans have voiced strong opposition to the illegal migration of Mexicans into America, and I bet that many Mexicans, if given the choice, would probably prefer to live, work and prosper in their own country. Trump assured the leaders of Canada and Mexico that the USA will stay in NAFTA for now, after earlier threatening to withdraw from the 23-year old trade agreement. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that almost 14 million American jobs depend on trade with Canada and Mexico.

“The prospect of the United States’ pulling out obviously alarmed the Canadian and Mexican leaders and prompted their calls to the White House”, the New York Times reported.

Throughout the week, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and others huddled in meetings with Trump, urging him not to sign a document triggering a USA withdrawal from NAFTA.

The Trump administration last month submitted a vague set of guidelines to Congress for renegotiating NAFTA, disappointing those who were expecting Trump to demand a major overhaul.

In reality, congressional oversight committees could accept notice from someone else, but Democrats on the committees are insisting that Lighthizer be confirmed before they will meet with the administration on trade issues.