The steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by President Trump threw another wrench into the North American Free Trade Agreement talks.
Politico says that will further delay a final agreement between the three long-time trading partners. The action also revives the possibility that Trump will once again possibly follow through on his threat to withdraw from the pact. That’s a move that will have serious economic consequences for all three economies.
Trump recently told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the “U.S. will sign a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all.”
Trudeau says the Trump administration has pressured him to accept a provision that would automatically terminate the agreement unless all three countries agreed to renew it. Trudeau refused to have his hand forced and canceled his plans to travel to Washington to finalize the deal if that was going to be the condition.
The conservative group, American Action Forum, says the president thinks being “tactically unpredictable is a fantastic approach.” The group says he fails to realize that strategy only confuses people, damages important relationships, and the president shoots himself in the foot on the economy during a time when regulatory and tax reform is doing so well.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.