9/8/2017

COMMERCE/NAFTA/TRADE DEALS/WILBUR ROSS: “Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Friday [9-8-17] backed President Donald Trump’s ever-present threat of terminating NAFTA, saying that withdrawal would be ‘the right thing’ to do if trilateral talks between Mexico, Canada and the U.S. are not successful.
Ross noted that even though the renegotiation is in its early stages, the Trump administration still views the end of the year as the deadline for talks to wrap up. He argued that the process can’t ‘drag on too long’ beyond that, because if it did, negotiators would run into delays amid elections in all three countries and the expiration of Trade Promotion Authority in the U.S…
Ross, in rare public comments on the renegotiation since the talks formally began in mid-August, praised the ‘extremely rapid’ pace of efforts to revamp the free trade deal, but emphasized the need for changes to be widespread…
He pointed to the growing trade deficit between the United States and Mexico in particular as an example of why the arrangement is not working, though most economists say that trade deficits are not an accurate way of judging the benefits of a trade agreement.”

-Megan Cassella, “Ross calls NAFTA withdrawal ‘right thing’ to do if 2.0 talks fail,” Politico, Sept. 8, 2017 11:00am