President Donald Trump sabotaged his so-called top priority, the renegotiated NAFTA, on two different fronts. First, by angering key House Democrats with his decision to start a procedural 30-day clock on the deal, in a ploy to place pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Second, by announcing he would impose escalating tariffs on June 10 on all goods imported from Mexico.
Virginia Democrat Rep. Don Beyer, who is generally pro-trade and has opposed Trump’s tariffs in the past, questioned the moves in a tweet Thursday night:
New tariffs deeply endanger the trade deal’s chances in Mexico:
The timing on this is key: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known by his initials AMLO, had just on Thursday asked the Mexican Senate to convene a special session before their planned session in September in order to approve the USMCA. Mexico has already passed a new labor reform law to comply with the deal. And now there’s a chance that even if they decide to approve it — a difficult lift under current circumstances — all goods from the country could still face a 25% tariff in the US.
NAFTA largely got rid of existing tariffs between the three countries, and the USMCA is much of the same. Legislators will be hard-pressed to ratify a supposed free trade deal when Trump hasn’t given many specifics on what will be required, other than somehow stopping all illegal immigration, to lift the new tariffs.
