President set to scrap Nafta

– US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would soon notify Congress that he plans to end the North Atlantic 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, 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 US 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 says the new pact – known in Washington as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – will help US workers, especially in the auto industry, and better safeguard intellectual property.

“Nafta has been a disaster for the United States,” said Trump, who insisted that the Agreement, in place for nearly 25 years, was a killer of American jobs.

“That will be terminated so Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-Nafta, which worked very well,” the president said. –

Washington