The Trump administration is poised to trigger a renegotiation of Nafta as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met with key lawmakers to satisfy a final step required beforehand, reports the American Journal of Transportation.
Under the law that gives the president so-called fast-track authority on trade pacts, Trump must give Congress 90-days’ notice that he intends to revise an existing agreement. Before starting talks, he must lay out the administration’s goals and consult with the Ways and Means committee, as well as the Senate Finance committee, the two congressional committees with jurisdiction over trade.
Ross told reporters on March 10 that the administration planned to give the 90-day notice in “the next couple weeks.”
Ross on Tuesday laid out a preliminary strategy for a Nafta renegotiation to a group of House members he is required to consult with ahead of issuing a formal 90-day notice that the administration intends to revise the agreement, said people familiar with the matter according to AJT.
The group includes Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, as well as Richard Neal, the committee’s ranking Democrat.
Note well; NAFTA is a crony trade deal that benefits insider corporations. However, President Trump is unlikely to direct the negotiations toward more free trade but rather in the direction of more restrictive trade, given his ignorant mercantilist trade views. His meddling with NAFTA will only worsen the problem.
-RW
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