Trade office outlines NAFTA redo goals

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump vowed Monday to increase U.S. manufacturing by cutting the $64 billion trade deficit with Mexico.

“No longer are we going to allow other countries to break the rules, to steal our jobs and drain our wealth,” Trump said.

Shortly after Trump’s remarks, the U.S. trade representative’s office released an 18-page report about its goals for updating the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. In addition to reducing the trade deficit, the administration wants to insert a chapter on the digital economy into the deal. It also wants to strengthen labor and environmental obligations and amend the rules of origin so that more of the products traded come from the United States and North America.

Facing an investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia and a tax and health care agenda struggling to make headway as quickly as promised, Trump is turning his focus to trade this week.