NAFTA in Trump era focus of U.S.-Mexico event

EL PASO — Mexican and U.S. business leaders attending a large trade conference in the border town of El Paso said Thursday that their sectors will survive despite threats by President Donald Trump to dismantle or renegotiate the North American Free Trade Act — which he has labeled the worst deal in U.S. history.

Those attending the Mexico’s Manufacturing Supply Chain Summit said that NAFTA, the 23-yearold trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, generates billions in trade annually but said they are convinced it will be renegotiated and not eliminated.

The forum happened as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Mexico amid what many consider is the most contentious relationship the two nations have had in decades.

Trump has said NAFTA puts U.S. workers at a disadvantage and has threatened to tax imports from Mexico. The nonpartisan Peterson Economic Institute found that NAFTA resulted in a 30 percent drop in U.S. auto manufacturing jobs between 1994 and 2013, although factory automation also played a role.

But some at the conference downplayed the possibility that NAFTA is doomed.

“Are we in trouble? I don’t think so. Mexico has a world class team of negotiators. The U.S. shouldn’t do too bad for themselves, but Mexico is not a pushover,” said Cesar Ochoa, an attorney for EC Legal specializing in trade and foreign investment.

Ochoa said industries should prepare for changes. But he said NAFTA is often misunderstood and has been beneficial to the American economy.

The Wilson Center, a Washington think-tank, says that 4.9 million Americans would be out of work if trade between the U.S. and Mexico came to a halt.