El Presidente Trumpo is apparently making preparations to fulfill a campaign promise and get the heck outta NAFTA, the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement.
Politico reported it first:
The Trump administration is considering an executive order on withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA, according to two White House officials.
A draft order has been submitted for the final stages of review and could be unveiled late this week or early next week, the officials said. The effort, which still could change in the coming days as more officials weigh in, would indicate the administration’s intent to withdraw from the sweeping pact by triggering the timeline set forth in the deal.
This is one of the worst policies Trump advocates, and it’s no coincidence that it’s the most “populist” position. It feeds people who want to believe that their personal problems come from evil phantom bankers somewhere.
The approach appears designed to extract better terms with Canada and Mexico. President Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to renegotiate NAFTA, a trade deal signed in 1994 by former President Bill Clinton that removes tariffs and allows for the free flow of goods and services between the three countries in North America. Trump in recent weeks has stepped up his rhetoric vowing to terminate the agreement altogether.
BUT, I have to admit, ANY deal can be renegotiated to help one side more. So IF he can do it, then even his critics, if they’re reasonable, will have to admit it was smart for him to do this. But it’s a big if, especially since the best negotiator in the history of all negotiators just caved on the wall in the budget to keep the government open…
UPDATE!
Here’s a video:
#BreakingNews: Executive order on U.S. NAFTA withdrawal under review – Senior Trump admin official. pic.twitter.com/X5pCHkFKeT
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) April 26, 2017
And another thought – is he just shoving this out there haphazardly because he’s so angry that he didn’t get enough done in the first hundred days? He made a lot of promises for the first hundred, and getting this done, even if it’s done hastily, would allow him to say he did something yuge.