rs and should be updated to reflect new technologies.
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Last month, White House aides spread word that Trump was ready to pull out of NAFTA. Within hours, the president reversed course and said that he’d seek a better deal first.
“We are going to give renegotiation a good strong shot,” Lighthizer said. He refused to say whether leaving NAFTA remained an option.
The trade agreement has dramatically increased trade among the three countries. American farmers have mostly benefited from the reduction in trade barriers. But the pact encouraged American manufacturers to relocate some operations to Mexico to take advantage of cheaper labor there; so critics blame NAFTA for wiping out U.S. factory jobs.
“Since the signing of NAFTA, we have seen our manufacturing industry decimated, factories shuttered, and countless workers left jobless,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. “President Trump is going to change that.”
In March, the administration circulated an eight-page draft letter on NAFTA that disappointed critics by appearing to keep much of the existing trade agreement in place.
In advance of renegotiations, the administration has sparred with Canada over inexpensive Canadian timber and Canadian barriers to U.S. dairy products. Lighthizer said he hoped those disputes could be resolved separately from the NAFTA talks.
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The more Trump plays with Nafta, the more Americans will suffer. Wait and see.