US will end Nafta agreement soon, says Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump says he will soon notify Congress that he plans to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) agreement with Mexico and Canada in favour of a new regional trade deal, setting up a potential clash on Capitol Hill.
Trump, travelling home from a G20 summit in Argentina on Saturday, told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would give formal notice to Congress on “terminating” Nafta “within a relatively short period of time”.
That would trigger a six-month waiting period before the United States could leave the pact – during that time, US lawmakers would be asked to approve the new deal signed on Friday with America’s neighbours.
Trump said the new pact – known in Washington as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – would help US workers, especially in the auto industry, and better safeguard intellectual property.
“We get rid of Nafta. It’s been a disaster for the United States,” said Trump, who insisted that the agreement, in place for nearly a quar- ter-century, was a killer of US jobs.
“That’ll be terminated so Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-Nafta, which worked very well.”
The signing of USMCA was a victory for Trump following months of tense and difficult negotiations with Ottawa and Mexico City.
Trump said on Friday that he did not foresee a problem with getting congressional approval, but some Democrats – who will control the US House of Representatives as of next month – have expressed skepticism.
Nancy Pelosi, the frontrunner to regain her position as Speaker of the House, on Friday called the deal a “work in progress”.
“What isn’t in it yet are enough enforcement reassurances regarding workers” and the environment, she told a press conference.
“This is not something that we have a piece of paper where we can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to it,” said Pelosi, who added that Mexico had not yet passed a law on wages and working conditions.
The new deal also requires legislative approval in Canada and Mexico.