Trump plays hardball, wins renegotiation of NAFTA

by WorldTribune Staff, April 27, 2017

Canada and Mexico have agreed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s terms to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The White House announced on April 26 that Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation” of the trade deal to “the benefit of all three countries.”

President Donald Trump speaks before signing the Antiquities Executive Order at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. on April 26. /Reuters

The White House said Trump, who routinely described the trade deal as a “disaster” during his campaign, has “agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time.”

The decision came just hours after a senior official said Trump was considering issuing an executive order to pull out of NAFTA.

“I decided rather than terminating NAFTA, which would be a pretty big, you know, shock to the system, we will renegotiate,” Trump said, adding that if he is “unable to make a fair deal” he will “terminate NAFTA.”

“We’re going to give renegotiation a good, strong shot,” the president said.

Sen. John McCain on April 26 urged Trump not to pull the U.S. from NAFTA.

“It will devastate the economy in my state,” McCain said. “I hope he doesn’t do that.”

Also on April 26, Trump signed an executive order that launched a review of land and marine national monuments designated for protection under the Antiquities Act during the last two decades, calling the act’s use by previous administrations “abusive.”

The executive order instructs Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review monuments designated by presidents going back to 1996.

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