President Trump on Monday hailed a new trade agreement reached between the U. S. and Canada just hours before a self-imposed deadline to replace…
President Trump on Monday hailed a new trade agreement reached between the U. S. and Canada just hours before a self-imposed deadline to replace the framework of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as “historic.”
Trump wrote on Twitter that the deal with Canada, combined with a previously reached accord with Mexico, will be renamed the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or “USMCA.”
“It is a great deal for all three countries, solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA, greatly opens markets to our Farmers and Manufacturers, reduces Trade Barriers to the U. S. and will bring all three Great Nations together in competition with the rest of the world. The USMCA is a historic transaction!” Trump tweeted.
“Congratulations to Mexico and Canada!” he added in a separate tweet.
Trump later announced that he would hold a news conference to discuss the USMCA on Monday at 11 a.m.
The White House announced Sunday night that the three countries reached a deal to preserve the trade agreement. While the U. S. and Mexico had already agreed to a fresh trade deal to replace NAFTA, negotiators from Washington and Ottawa were working against the clock to bring Canada into the fold. In a joint statement, U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said that the new deal will “give our workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region.”
Trump had sounded pessimistic that Canada would be involved in the new deal as recently as last Wednesday, when he said at a press conference at the United Nations that the U. S. was “unhappy” with Freeland and her negotiating style.
“I love Canada, by the way,” Trump said. “I have so many friends. But that has nothing to do with this. I’m representing the United States.”
The president previously tweeted that there was “no political necessity” to keep Canada in an updated version of NAFTA, though U. S. lawmakers had urged the administration to include their neighbors to the north.
The renegotiated NAFTA, if approved by lawmakers in all three countries, would mark a win for Trump, who has long decried the Clinton-era trade pact as one of the “worst” deals in history.
–This report was updated at 8:16 a.m.
