NAFTA bit player in Trump’s drama

Et tu, NAFTA? The question is not so much if NAFTA can survive Donald Trump, but if Donald Trump can survive long enough to see it done.

Only a few months ago, the British betting shop Ladbrokes, one of the largest wagering outfits in the world, lowered its odds slightly that Trump would be making an early exit from the Oval Office, either by impeachment or resignation, to 4/5, or 55 per cent.

Now bookies are scrambling for better odds for the bet maker.

What has thrown another variable into the algorithm is Friday’s banishment of Steve Bannon, one of the founders of the hard-right Breitbart News, who held the position as Trump’s top political strategist.

Even conservative pundits in the United States still supporting the president fear Bannon will quickly become another back-stabbing Brutus on the loose, and that every day for Trump will have the possibility of being his Ides of March. Where does NAFTA fit into all this? Somewhere on the back burner, one suspects.

And it would come as no surprise if Trump suddenly shut down all negotiations for two reasons.

One, he already isn’t getting his way, at least in his mind.

And, two, his administration appears in shambles.

The first week of NAFTA negotiations ended, for example, with U.S. chief negotiator Robert Lighthizer wanting Americanmade content to be upped in the car manufacturing sector.

This was Lighthizer’s way of dealing with Trump’s accusation that American manufacturing jobs were being sucked south into Mexico, and even into Canada where labour costs are somewhat less with the continuing devaluation of the loonie.

Lighthizer, however, was all but ignored, with experts stating his demands would quickly backfire if both Mexico and Canada opted for tariffs over acquiescence. Then Bannon got popped. One suspects Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and the rest of Canada’s NAFTA negotiators would like to see the pin pulled on these talks until calmer political climes prevail.

If, or when, that will ever happen, however, is anyone’s guess.

But one would be hard-pressed to believe that Trump will be waking up today thinking about NAFTA. He will instead be checking the knife drawer. — Postmedia News