Trump kills NAFTA, reaches better deal with Canada and Mexico

(by Nicholas Sakelaris, UPI) — A historic new trade agreement with Canada represents a “new dawn for the American auto industry” that will transform the United States back into a “manufacturing powerhouse,” President Donald Trump said Monday.

The $1.2 trillion trade agreement replaces NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), which Trump promised to repeal during his presidential campaign.

“Today we have kept that promise,” Trump said. “But for 25 years as a civilian and businessman I used to say, ‘How could anyone sign such an agreement?’ With this [new] agreement we are closing all of these terrible loopholes, they’re closed, they’re gone. They were a disaster.”

The new agreement was reached before Sunday’s midnight deadline and will incorporate the United States’ trade deal with Mexico that was reached in August. Trump coined a new name for the trade deal: United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The replacement for NAFTA includes new provisions on digital trade and intellectual property.

[“Mexico and Canada have agreed to strong new labor protections, environmental protections and new protections for intellectual property,” Trump said at a press conference Monday. “This new deal is an especially great victory for our farmers.”]

The agreement will benefit farmers, ranchers and automobile workers, Trump said. Under the agreement, 75 percent of every automobile must be built in North America. The auto industry in particular, which was hit hard by NAFTA, will see the biggest benefit.

“We will be manufacturing many more cars,” Trump said. “Our companies won’t be leaving the United States, firing their workers and building their cars elsewhere. There’s no longer that incentive.” .

[“For example, we [will] require a large portion of every car to be made by high-wage workers, which will greatly reduce foreign outsourcing which was tremendous problem,” he said. “More automobiles and parts will be manufactured inside the United States. We will be manufacturing many more cars and our companies won’t be leaving the United States, firing their workers and building their cars elsewhere.”].

[“It is a great deal for all three countries,” Trump wrote on Twitter.]

Trump’s hard line on trade is having an impact far beyond North America, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying more automakers will be moving factories to the United States.

The threat of tariffs has brought India to the negotiating table and Trump said he’s confident other countries, too.

“Without tariffs, we wouldn’t be talking about a deal,” Trump said. “Japan is wanting to negotiate. India, the tariff king, also wants to negotiate.”

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Schrystia Freeland said in a joint statement the new deal “will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home.”

The USMCA is regarded by some a big policy win for Trump and Republicans heading into the Nov. 6 midterm elections. It’s unclear how long it will take to ratify the deal, since the U.S., Mexican and Canadian governments must approve it.

From UPI .com. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from United Press International.