by WorldTribune Staff, August 27, 2018
President Donald Trump on Aug. 27 announced a new bilateral trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico.
Trump said that many had doubted the deal could be done, but “We made it much simpler, much better, much better for both countries.”
The announcement was a major factor as the stock market surged on Aug. 27.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260 points, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1 percent to an all-time high, and the S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to hit a record high.
Trump, who told reporters he wanted to scrap the NAFTA name as the U.S. has been hurt badly by it, said the new trade deal marked “a big day for trade, big day for our country.”
In the room with Trump for the announcement were U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso, Mexican Economic Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton and White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto joined Trump by phone for the announcement.
Trump indicated he would soon see Nieto and there would be a very formal ceremony to mark “one of the largest trade deals ever made.”
Through a translator Nieto thanked Trump and said the deal is “very positive for the United States and Mexico.”
“It is our wish now Mr. President that now Canada will also be able to be incorporated in all this.” Nieto said.
Trump said his team will be starting negotiations with Canada very soon and the he will be calling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“If they’d like to negotiate fairly we’ll do that. You know they have tariffs of almost 300 percent on some of our dairy products so we can’t have that, we’re not going to stand for that,” said Trump.
Trump suggested a separate deal would likely be forged with Canada, but left room for the possibility of including Canada in the deal with Mexico.
“The market has been buffeted with a lot of headwinds lately, and the biggest one is trade,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR.
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