AFP, Washington :
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he will soon notify Congress that he plans to end the NAFTA agreement with Mexico and Canada in favor of a new regional trade deal, setting up a potential clash on Capitol Hill.
Trump, traveling home from a G20 summit in Argentina, told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would give formal notice to Congress on “terminating” NAFTA “within a relatively short period of time.”
That would trigger a six-month waiting period before the US could leave the pact – during that time, US lawmakers would be asked to approve the new deal signed on Friday with America’s neighbors.
Trump says the new pact – known in Washington as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – will help US workers, especially in the auto industry, and better safeguard intellectual property.
“We get rid of NAFTA. It’s been a disaster for the United States,” said Trump, who insisted that the North American Free Trade Agreement, in place for nearly a quarter-century, was a killer of American jobs.
“That’ll be terminated so Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-NAFTA, which worked very well,” the Republican president said.
The signing of USMCA was a victory for Trump, following months of tense and difficult negotiations with Ottawa and Mexico City.
Trump said Friday that he did not foresee a problem with getting congressional approval, but some Democrats – who will control the US House of Representatives as of January – have expressed skepticism.
Nancy Pelosi, the frontrunner to regain her position as Speaker of the House, on Friday called the deal a “work in progress.”
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he will soon notify Congress that he plans to end the NAFTA agreement with Mexico and Canada in favor of a new regional trade deal, setting up a potential clash on Capitol Hill.
Trump, traveling home from a G20 summit in Argentina, told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would give formal notice to Congress on “terminating” NAFTA “within a relatively short period of time.”
That would trigger a six-month waiting period before the US could leave the pact – during that time, US lawmakers would be asked to approve the new deal signed on Friday with America’s neighbors.
Trump says the new pact – known in Washington as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – will help US workers, especially in the auto industry, and better safeguard intellectual property.
“We get rid of NAFTA. It’s been a disaster for the United States,” said Trump, who insisted that the North American Free Trade Agreement, in place for nearly a quarter-century, was a killer of American jobs.
“That’ll be terminated so Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-NAFTA, which worked very well,” the Republican president said.
The signing of USMCA was a victory for Trump, following months of tense and difficult negotiations with Ottawa and Mexico City.
Trump said Friday that he did not foresee a problem with getting congressional approval, but some Democrats – who will control the US House of Representatives as of January – have expressed skepticism.
Nancy Pelosi, the frontrunner to regain her position as Speaker of the House, on Friday called the deal a “work in progress.”
