ECONOMY/NAFTA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The future of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which binds the economies of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, has rarely looked as murky as it does right now. Negotiators missed a self-imposed deadline to rewrite the deal in May. Then a quarrel between U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after G-7 meetings in Quebec this month put key players at odds with each other just as negotiators were trying to decide what steps to take next. The president is strongly guided by his gut and relationships with others, and also prone to impatience—all of which could signal an intent to leave a treaty he doesn’t like. But those presidential instincts are at odds with other forces that give Mr. Trump and his trade team an incentive to stay in the deal and keep negotiating for now. The stakes are high: $1.1 trillion in trade between the U.S. and its neighbors and $840 billion of investment ranging from the auto industry to food and agriculture.”
-Will Mauldin and Josh Zumbrun, “Conflicting Forces Pull at Trump on Nafta,” The Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2018 6:09 pm