Economy
Lighthizer Announces NAFTA Negotiations
Written by Sandy Williams
May 18, 2017
The Trump administration plans to start renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement in mid-August, said US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in a letter to Congress today.
Lighthizer said he has triggered the 90-day consultation period with Congress, industries and the public.
“As a starting point for negotiations, we should build on what has worked in NAFTA and change and improve what has not,” Lighthizer said in a conference call with reporters. “If renegotiations result in a fairer deal for American workers there is value in making the transition to a modernized NAFTA as seamless as possible.”
US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement on Thursday, “With this letter, we intend to notify not just Congress, but all our trading partners, that free and fair trade is the new standard for U.S. trade deals. Since the signing of NAFTA, we have seen our manufacturing industry decimated, factories shuttered, and countless workers left jobless. President Trump is going to change that. I look forward working with the President, Ambassador Lighthizer, and our counterparts from Mexico and Canada, to find a solution that is both fair and beneficial for all parties.”
The letter did not provide details of negotiations but instead focused on the need to modernize NAFTA and ensure enforcement of commitments made under the agreement.
After previously calling NAFTA a disaster, President Trump reversed his intention to pull out of the agreement in favor of negotiating a better deal for the U.S.
“We are going to give renegotiation a good strong shot,” said Lighthizer.
Sandy Williams
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