Markets applauded the development. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 200 points Monday.
President Donald Trump took a victory lap about his administration’s new North American trade deal Monday, heralding the pact as “an extraordinary agreement” and “a new dawn” for the U. S. auto industry.
Trump touted the deal between the U. S., Mexico and Canada, struck late Sunday, in his first public statement in the White House’s Rose Garden on Monday morning.
Trump’s remarks came hours after the United States and Canada struck a deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement with a new trilateral pact called the USMCA, for United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Trump said that negotiations with Canada, which continued about for about a month after the U. S. announced a deal with Mexico in August, had led to “very strong tensions” between himself and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump said those tensions had relaxed at “about 12 o’clock last night.”
The Rose Garden speech was also peppered with criticisms for Democrats, as well as international trading partners such as China and the European Union, who Trump said have treated the U. S. “so unfairly.”
Trump, a strong advocate for protectionist trade policies, credited his tariff proposals for the success of the deal. “Without tariffs, we wouldn’t be talking about a deal, just for the babies out there that keep talking about tariffs,” Trump said.
Trump also expressed optimism that the trade deal would pass a vote in Congress, but added that “if it doesn’t, we have lots of other alternatives.”
Early Monday morning, Trump tweeted his congratulations to Mexico and Canada and praised the agreement as a “great deal.” The new trade pact was forged during several months of contentious negotiations.
Markets applauded the development. The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 260 points in late-morning trade.
Among the details in the agreement are requirements for 75 percent of auto content to be made in North America, up from 62.5 percent, and for 40 to 45 percent of that auto content to be made by workers making at least $16 an hour.
The three nations still need to sign the deal, which is expected before the end of November. Congress also needs to approve USMCA, which might not happen this year given the post-election lame-duck session and other pressing issues, such as keeping the government funded.
Trump said Monday that he “just spoke” with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, as well as Trudeau. The U. S. will send the new agreement to the two trading partners by the end of November before passing it along to Congress, Trump said.
Trump had initially refused to answer numerous questions from reporters about his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, whose candidacy has been threatened by allegations of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all of the allegations.
When he allowed the questions to veer away from the USMCA, Trump lamented “the trauma” that Kavanaugh’s wife and children have experienced in light of the allegations, all of which surfaced in mid-September.
Last week, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., had called for Trump’s White House to order the FBI to investigate certain allegations against Kavanaugh for up to one week.
Trump later conceded to the requests for a federal probe, ordering a “supplemental investigation” into Kavanaugh.
“I want to make the senate happy, because ultimately they’re making the judgment,” Trump said.
