By April Hamlin
·
Donald Trump is
reportedly considering an executive order that would pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) unless they are willing to
renegotiate with him for a better deal.
This is what Trump had to say about NAFTA
during his recent word salad of an interview with the Associated Press earlier
this week.
TRUMP: What would
you like to know?
AP: I would like to
know what your plan is in terms of renegotiating.
TRUMP: I am very
upset with NAFTA. I think NAFTA has been a catastrophic trade deal for the
United States, trading agreement for the United States. It hurts us with
Canada, and it hurts us with Mexico. Most people don’t even think of NAFTA in
terms of Canada. You saw what happened yesterday in my statements, because if
you look at the dairy farmers in Wisconsin and upstate New York, they are
getting killed by NAFTA.
AP: Is your plan
still, though, to renegotiate the whole deal?
TRUMP: I am going to
either renegotiate it or I am going to terminate it.
AP: Termination is
still on the table.
TRUMP: Absolutely.
If they don’t treat fairly, I am terminating NAFTA.
AP: What’s a
timeline for that decision?
TRUMP: It’s a
six-month termination clause, I have the right to do it, it’s a six-month
clause.
CNN reported that two senior administration officials had confirmed that Trump is debating
withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA through an executive order.
“The White House is
currently mulling an executive order declaring the US’ intent to withdraw from
NAFTA, a move that could trigger a renegotiation of the trade pact rather than
outright withdrawal,” the officials told CNN.
This isn’t a new
stance for Trump, who railed against NAFTA throughout his campaign. In June,
Trump declared that NAFTA was “the worst trade deal in… the history of this
country.”
“I’m going to tell our
NAFTA partners that I intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that
agreement to get a better deal––by a lot, not just a little, by a lot––for our
workers.
“And if they don’t agree to a renegotiation, which they might
not, because they’re so used to having their own way––not with Trump, they
won’t have their own way––then I will submit under Article 2205 of the NAFTA
agreement that America intends to withdraw from the deal,” Trump declared to
his rabid supporters last summer.
Author: April HamlinApril has studied political science, psychology, and
philosophy. Back in the good old days she was a reporter for “old fashioned”
print newspapers. In addition to news and politics, she also blogs about
service dogs and disability advocacy. As a black woman with a disability, she
is fed up with the right-wingers who would prefer that she and others like her
didn’t exist.