WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. trade negotiator says that the United States won’t settle for cosmetic changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement as negotiations to rework terms of the pact began.
President Donald Trump has called the 23-year-old trade pact the “worst” in history.
In a statement Wednesday, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer said that Trump “is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions and an updating of a few chapters. We believe NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement.”
Lighthizer’s comments suggest the negotiations could prove contentious. The Canadian and Mexican negotiators defended NAFTA as an economic success story but acknowledged it needs to be updated to reflect economic and technological changes.
AP: Lack of context as usual.
The old Zero-sum Gambit strikes again.
Well, this is a tad off topic but it sounds like Bumpy the Clown Pr*sident just disbanded that dumbass manufacturing council after Campbell’s Soup’s CEO bowed out today from that useless sham, designed to prop tRump up like he’s actually doing something in office. Btw, that manufacturing council never met once, aside from the initial announcement that they would meet I read.
Thanks Campbell’s. I was really dreading having to buy generic cream of mushroom soup for some of those sauces. I still like your best. Boycotts are a bitch but personally, I would have gone there. I still don’t buy Koch shit btw after all these years. No dixie cups, plates or brawny towels for me…
Imagine that! A third world country’s government sets up policies that make them rich and screws the common man.
Agree, this panel was just more kubuki theater to advance the pretense that Trump was going to create jobs and help workers.
Similarly, I think he’s raised the issue of infrastructure for the same reason. I haven’t yet read his executive order on infrastructure that he signed this week, but I have a hunch his attempt to “streamline” the permitting and review process is his ultimate goal.
I think he just wants to gut growth management, environmental impact, land use review, and other regulations in order to help his cronies and then say he cleared the way to unleash the private sector.
Because there doesn’t seem to be any movement on funding any infrastructure.
Yep. Probably most of these CEOs were merely people he wanted to rub elbows with, have come to his properties, spend a little cash there, and hit the links with…As I understand it, he was never accepted into the NY business world by and large, or by most titans of industry around the country, with the exception of maybe the real estate business. Somehow he didn’t make himself very welcome in the billionaire’s boys club from the sounds of it.
I see some of them are speaking out now that tRump’s already disbanded the thing, which is funny because now they seemingly have nothing to lose, except trying to explain why they didn’t jump ship in the first place. That’s pathetic.
tRump disbanded both of his business councils because he couldn’t handle the early rejection that was beginning to snowball.