Talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement must “do no harm” to the agricultural sector in the United States and Mexico that have benefitted from it, US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Friday. Near the end of a two-day visit to the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico, Perdue said President Donald Trump is … Read more
US President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to rip up a free trade deal with Canada and Mexico if the text is not renegotiated to his liking. “We are renegotiating NAFTA and if we don’t get the deal we want, we’ll terminate NAFTA,” Trump told a group of veterans in Ohio, the center of America’s industrial … Read more
US and Mexican political deadlines are creating pressure to reach a quick outcome to next month’s talks to rework North America’s regional free trade pact, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday. The United States, Canada and Mexico are due to begin talks on August 16 to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with … Read more
Imposing new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico could raise the price of new cars in the US by an average of $1,100 and eliminate as many as 50,000 US jobs, according to a new study Wednesday. The Motor Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) said the study shows the dangers of changes to the North … Read more
Negotiations on reworking North America’s landmark free trade pact will begin next month in Washington, US officials announced Wednesday. The announcement comes after American officials this week laid out a bargaining position with a heavy emphasis on reducing bilateral trade deficits with Mexico and Canada while pressing Ottawa and Mexico City for other important trade … Read more
The United States on Monday said it would work to shrink trade deficits with Canada and Mexico in talks to renegotiate the landmark 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Trump administration has focused on boosting domestic manufacturing while cutting trade deficits — which it sees as damaging to the economy — a move … Read more
With talks to begin in August to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, dozens of industry, agriculture, labor and economic officials offered their views to the Trump administration on Tuesday. The US Trade Representative opened three days of public hearings that were sure to feature many conflicting views on the 23-year-old trade pact. Industry … Read more
The United States will continue allowing Mexico to sell it sugar duty-free, the Mexican economy minister said Tuesday as the countries prepared to announce a deal on a long-running trade dispute. “Mexican sugar will retain its access to the US market, without paying compensatory tariffs,” Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told TV network Televisa. In return, … Read more
US President Donald Trump’s administration formally notified Congress on Wednesday of its intent to renegotiate the three-nation North American Free Trade Agreement. The talks with Canada and Mexico will begin “no earlier than August 16, 2017,” US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. During the 90-day countdown, USTR will consult with “Congress and … Read more
The US trade deficit drifted lower in March despite record imports from Mexico and a drop in total exports, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Rising oil import prices, which hit a near two-year record, helped fuel the trade deficit, which has become a central focus of the Trump administration’s nationalist economic agenda. The trade gap … Read more
President Donald Trump’s threat to abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement has US farmers worried their access to prime Canadian and Mexican export markets could shrink. The US neighbors are the second and third-largest importers of American agricultural goods, after China. And US agricultural exports to those countries have risen far faster than to … Read more
Asian markets took a step back Thursday after a four-day rally, tracking a weak lead from Wall Street, as traders assess the chances of Congress passing Donald Trump’s massive tax cuts. As expected, the administration unveiled plans to slash corporate and individual rates but there were few details and there are questions over how the … Read more
NAFTA partners Mexico, Canada and the United States plan to swiftly renegotiate their free trade deal, the White House announced Wednesday. President Donald Trump “agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly… to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal,” a statement said. The announcement came after reports … Read more
The US government doesn’t have a clear idea of what NAFTA covers, a business body representing several big North American multinationals said on Tuesday after Washington picked a trade fight with Canada. The Canadian American Business Council took umbrage at a comment by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that NAFTA wasn’t “functioning properly,” allegedly because … Read more
Mexico has identified a potential weapon in its trade wrangle with US President Donald Trump: lucrative yellow cobs of American corn. The Latin American nation imports billions of dollars’ worth of the yellow grain from the United States to feed its livestock. But with Trump pushing to shake up the countries’ trade ties, Mexico is … Read more
The Trump administration will launch the formal process to renegotiate the US trade agreement with Mexico and Canada “in the next couple of weeks,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday. Before reopening the North American Free Trade Agreement — which President Donald Trump has slammed as a bad deal for the United States — or … Read more
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that the whole world benefited from a strong European Union and that the bloc and his country needed to lead the international economy in challenging times. Trudeau told the European Parliament that the Union was an unprecedented model for peaceful cooperation in a speech that marked his … Read more
President Donald Trump said Sunday he will begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement when he meets with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. A central promise of Trump’s campaign was that he would revamp the 23-year-old trade pact. At a White House event Sunday, Trump said he had scheduled meetings with Canadian Prime … Read more
The European Union and Canada signed a free trade agreement on Sunday that aims to generate jobs and growth though it must still clear some 40 national and regional parliaments in Europe in the coming years to enter fully into force. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the treaty along with the heads of EU … Read more
Tens of thousands of people have been protesting in cities across Germany against a proposed transatlantic trade deal between the EU and the US. Protesters say the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will lower European standards on food and environmental protection, and could lead to outsourcing and job-losses. Supporters of the deal say it … Read more