NAFTA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Over the past quarter century, the North American Free Trade Agreement has done much to transform the region’s economy, rewiring supply chains, shaking up labor markets, altering consumer choices and integrating border towns. The vast range of commerce touched by the pact will be evident this week, when the Trump administration holds marathon public hearings over plans to rewrite the deal with Mexico and Canada.
Beginning with an 11-hour session slated to open at 8:50 a.m. Tuesday [6-27-17], the U.S. Trade Representative’s office plans three days of hearings, churning through more than 130 witnesses. Many of the speakers during the 24 hours of discussion are predictable players at such events: representatives of the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and prominent trade academics.
But the variety of speakers shows the widespread interest in the pact, with a long list of industries, unions and activists looking to protect what they’ve gained since the 1994 launch, to make up for what they’ve lost, or to take advantage of the opportunity for change.”
-Jacob M. Schlesinger, “Trump Administration Opens Marathon Nafta Hearings,” The Wall Street Journal online, June 27, 2017 05:30am