TRUMP REWRITES RULES OF TRADE WITH NEW DEAL
... flaunts pact with Mexico, Canada; hopes China, India will fall in line
washington — US President Donald Trump on Monday said a new free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico would support hundreds of thousands of US jobs, marking it as a victory in his push to reshape the lines of global commerce.
Financial markets breathed a sigh of relief that the United States and Canada had reached a last-minute deal on Sunday to preserve a single trading zone in North America after serious worries it could fragment under Trump’s trade pressures.
The deal is a reworking of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), which underpins $1.2 trillion in trade between the three countries. Trump had described Nafta as a bad deal for Americans and threatened to eliminate it as part of his “America First” agenda.
The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is aimed at bringing more jobs into the United States, with Canada and Mexico accepting more restrictive commerce with the United States, their main export partner. “These measures will support many — hundreds of thousands — American jobs,” Trump said in remarks at the White House. “It means far more American jobs, and these are high-quality jobs.”
Calling the new accord “truly historic news for our nation — and indeed, for the world,” the US leader said he hoped to sign it by the end of November.
Pointing to his combative attitude towards China — with which the United States is engaged in an escalating trade war — Trump said his strategy was bearing fruit and that “China wants to talk very badly.”
washington — US President Donald Trump on Monday said a new free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico would support hundreds of thousands of US jobs, marking it as a victory in his push to reshape the lines of global commerce.
Financial markets breathed a sigh of relief that the United States and Canada had reached a last-minute deal on Sunday to preserve a single trading zone in North America after serious worries it could fragment under Trump’s trade pressures.
The deal is a reworking of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which underpins $1.2 trillion in trade between the three countries. Trump had described Nafta as a bad deal for Americans and threatened to eliminate it as part of his “America First” agenda.
The new United States-MexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA) is aimed at bringing more jobs into the United States, with Canada and Mexico accepting more restrictive commerce with the United States, their main export partner.
“These measures will support many — hundreds of thousands — American jobs,” Trump said in remarks at the White House.
“It means far more American jobs, and these are high-quality jobs.”
While changing Nafta and bringing down US trade deficits was a top Trump campaign pledge, Sunday’s agreement largely leaves the broader deal intact and maintains supply chains that would have been fractured under weaker bilateral deals.
Trump called USMCA “the most important trade deal we’ve ever made by far,” replacing Nafta, which he said was “perhaps the worst trade deal ever.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday called it “a good day for Canada” after negotiators worked frantically ahead of the USimposed midnight deadline for a deal. He was scheduled to speak to reporters at noon EDT (1600GMT).
The pact preserved a key trade dispute settlement mechanism sought by Canada even as Ottawa agreed to open up its dairy markets to US.farmers.
[The new USMCA] means far more American jobs, and these are high-quality jobs Donald Trump, US President
The deal effectively maintains the current auto sector and largely spares Canada and Mexico from the prospect of US tariffs on their vehicles, although it will make it harder for global auto makers to build cars cheaply in Mexico.
Trump vowed during his 2016 presidential campaign to tear up current US trade deals, which he blamed for a loss of American manufacturing jobs. His administration has abandoned other trade accords and slapped tariffs on a number of key trading partners, including China. “It’s a promise made, promise kept,” Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, told Fox News on Monday. “Nafta is dead. We have USMCA.”
Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo on Monday said the new accord could be signed by the three countries’ leaders when they meet at a G20 summit in Buenos Aires in late November.