Courtesy of Mish.
“It’s been very, very bad for our companies and for our workers, and we’re going to make some very big changes or we are going to get rid of NAFTA once and for all,” President Donald Trump said in a speech last week.
Today, White House readies order on withdrawing from NAFTA.
The Trump administration is considering an executive order on withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA, according to two White House officials.
A draft order has been submitted for the final stages of review and could be unveiled late this week or early next week, the officials said. The effort, which still could change in the coming days as more officials weigh in, would indicate the administration’s intent to withdraw from the sweeping pact by triggering the timeline set forth in the deal.
Peter Navarro, the head of Trump’s National Trade Council, drafted the executive order in close cooperation with White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. The executive order was submitted this week to the staff secretary for the final stages of review, according to one of the White House officials.
The draft executive order could be a hardball negotiating tactic designed to bring Mexico and Canada to the table to renegotiate NAFTA. But once Trump sets the withdrawal process in motion, the prospects for the U.S. pulling out of one of the largest trade deals on the globe become very real.
Some internally see the drafting of the executive order as a win for the “nationalist” faction within the White House led by Bannon, who has been sidelined in recent weeks since he was removed from the National Security Council.
NAFTA Running Out of Time
CNNMoney reports Trump’s NAFTA is Already Running Out of Time
President Trump wants a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada soon. But he’s running out of time.
Trump has said he wants a deal that benefits US workers, but hasn’t said exactly what he wants in a new deal.
If Trump decides to stay in and renegotiate, time isn’t on his side.His trade team, led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, must trigger a 90-day consultation period before trade talks can begin. At the earliest, talks could start in August.
Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said “it’s completely unrealistic” to get a deal done this year.
“The notion that you’re going to have a negotiation that’s both fast and productive is just an illusion,” Alden added.
It’s also worth noting that the original NAFTA agreement, which became law in 1994, took years to put together.Mexican leaders want negotiations done by early 2018 because Mexico has presidential elections in July of next year. There’s no telling whether the next Mexican president will cooperate with Trump on NAFTA.
Very Bad Idea
Killing NAFTA is a terrible idea. I have talked about this before buts here are some pictures of the allegedly “terrible trade deal”
Manufacturing Employment
Trump and Navarro moan about NAFTA causing a loss of US manufacturing jobs. If anything, NAFTA stabilized or increased US manufacturing jobs for six or seven years thanks to an increase in bilateral trade.
