President Donald Trump said he intends to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement and call its replacement "the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement" – a name that would exclude the third NAFTA partner, Canada.
Trump made the comments after announcing an "understanding" with Mexico that could lead to an overhaul of the 24-year-old trade pact, which Trump has called a job-killing "disaster." Details of the U.S.-Mexico agreement were expected to be unveiled later Monday.
Trump said Monday the U.S. had reached a "really good deal" with Mexico and talks with Canada would begin shortly on a new regional free trade pact.
"It's a big day for trade. It's a really good deal for both countries," Trump said.
The president said he will be calling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "If they'd like to negotiate fairly, we'll do that."
He also threatened to tax Canadian auto imports to increase the pressure on Canada's government.
"We could have a separate deal [with Canada] or we could put it into this deal,” he said.
U.S. and Mexican negotiators have been working for weeks to iron out differences in order to revise NAFTA, while Canada was waiting to rejoin the negotiations.
AFP
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