Too funny… this is what we would call a win/win. President Trump delivering remarks to the media aboard Air Force One on the flight back to the U.S.
(Via Associated Press) President Donald Trump says he will shortly be providing formal notice to Congress that he will terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement, giving lawmakers six months to approve the replacement he recently signed.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington from Argentina, Trump says: “I will be formally terminating NAFTA shortly.”
National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow appears on Sunday Morning to talk about the U.S.MCA agreement; the state of the economy; and the ongoing MAGAnomic efforts within restructured trade deals.
Ms. Maria Bartiromo knows the weeds, and is smart enough to see the new dimension within an economy as it moves away from Wall Street toward Main Street. Kudlow discusses the surfacing MAGAnomic evidence within wage growth and blue-collar benefits. The conversation then goes international. Good discussion.
The Koala even gets a little cross about China…
Biggest U.S. Trade Win in the History of all U.S. Trade Constructs !
I’m still going through the USMCA text (even speed reading, it will likely take a while); here’s the link to the AGREEMENT DETAILS. However, many people have asked about how the NAFTA loophole was being closed.
Well, the answer is exactly what it had to be – there was really no option. The U.S. now has veto authority over any trade deal made by Canada and/or Mexico with third parties. This is what Ambassador Lighthizer described as the “Third pillar”.
Last year, despite the inevitability of it, we didn’t think Canada and Mexico would agree to it. The NAFTA loophole was/is a zero-sum issue: Either Can/Mex agree to give veto authority to the U.S. –OR– President Trump had no option to exit NAFTA completely.
Well, Canada and Mexico have agreed to the former, so there’s no need for the latter.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross gives an interview to Fox Business Maria Bartiromo and discusses the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Secretary Ross notes the gains in e-commerce and the dairy industry. Also worth noting, the Steel and Aluminum tariffs remain in place.
Someone tipped-off Trudeau. An emergency series of last-minute phone calls surrounding the U.S-Mexico trade agreement has temporarily postponed releasing key details of the Mexico-U.S. trade agreement. Within the granules of this most important economic negotiation, we’ll likely find out exactly why POTUS was highly preoccupied Friday.
According to Reuters reporting Justin from Canada called Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Thursday and asked him to use his influence to call the U.S. government requesting a delay so the Canadians could put a last-minute proposal into the mix.
Apparently someone finally informed Justin from Canada a bilateral trade strategy was hours away from being deployed. Important Note: Justin did not call current Mexican President Peña Niéto, the call was made to President-Elect Lopez Obrador.
(Via Reuters) […] Lopez Obrador told reporters in Mexico City that Trudeau asked him during a Thursday phone call “to intervene and call on the U.S. government to reach an agreement” with Canada. “We agreed to that.”
He said that regardless of the outcome with Canada the language of the agreement between Washington and Mexico City was now final. “We are not going to re-open the negotiation. That you can be sure of,” Lopez Obrador said. (read more)
As with all financial media reporting on trade you have to read “through” the pro-globalist, pro-Wall Street, spin to see the more important background picture. Wall Street, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the multinationals -together with Justin- are going bananas trying to retain maximum pressure against the White House in this U.S-Mexico deal. (more…)
Jumpin’ ju-ju bones. Hat Tip to Ezra Levant on Twitter – This is going to go down in the history books of bad diplomacy. You have to watch the first 2 minutes of this video. Canadian Foreign Minister took leave during the middle of critically important trade negotiations with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to attend a Women in the World conference in Toronto.
Check out the conference introduction video (first 01:30) “Taking on the Tyrant”, and the visual of Canadian trade negotiator on stage to deliver her remarks (next 30 seconds). Consider that Ms. Freeland made this decision during the most critical trade negotiations in her country’s modern history. The outcome of the U.S-Canada trade negotiation will determine the next several decades within the Canadian economy. Now Watch:
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Think about the level of ideological tone-deafness here. This is simply off-the-charts echo-chamber crazy. Canada needs a positive trade outcome; their economy is already on the ropes; and Freeland considers this a good idea? Unreal. (more…)
As Foreign Minister Chrystia from Canada arrives in Washington DC to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is interviewed by CNBC.
Triple Play: Finalize NAFTA (or two bilats); fill in the details on previously agreed EU deal; then face-down red dragon (China).
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Additionally, Mnuchin had some impromptu remarks (below): (more…)
Promises made, promises kept. The CTH community is in a unique position to understand exactly what has taken place today as President Donald Trump announces the termination of NAFTA and simultaneously announces a bilateral trade agreement has been made between the U.S. and Mexico. This is exactly what CTH predicted. Most, not all, but most of the media are absolutely clueless.
In an Oval Office announcement today President Trump put outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on his speaker phone as the press watched in the Oval Office. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo, and the key figure for incoming Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Jesus Seade was present for the announcement.
CTH will have much more on the details of the trade agreement. This is the most comprehensive and complex trade agreement in U.S. history. However, in the interim here’s the full video of the announcement (including nuance). ENJOY:
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[Transcript] Oval Office – 11:09 A.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Hello everybody. It’s a big day for trade, a big day for our country. A lot of people thought we’d never get here because we all negotiate tough. We do, and so does Mexico. And this is a tremendous thing.
This has to do — they used to call it NAFTA. We’re going to call it the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, and we’ll get rid of the name NAFTA. It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years. And now it’s a really good deal for both countries, and we look very much forward to it. (more…)
Earlier today U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer messaged a warm birthday greeting to Mexican Foreign Secretary Louis Videgaray during ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Mexican trade teams (video below).
Canada is FUBAR. No-one quite knows how FUBAR Canada is, because no-one has followed the brilliant Wolverine crew closely enough to spot the strategy.
At the strategic direction of President Trump; and it is a really brilliant workaround strategy; the U.S. and Mexican teams are approaching the current NAFTA negotiations from a position of bilateral trade. Trade watchers, Wall Street experts, financial pundits and the entire media apparatus are missing what Team USA are doing right in front of their faces…. they’ve obviously never followed or studied Trump’s out of the box problem solving when it comes to complex deals.
I won’t rehash the NAFTA flaws; familiar CTH readers know them well. However, the bottom line is NAFTA is NOT, repeat N.O.T being renegotiated. I was going to remain silent, but I think it’s safe, Lighthizer is close enough to a deal to explain what’s happening. (more…)
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and a delegation of out-going and in-coming Mexican trade officials have been conducting intensive NAFTA negotiation talks for the past several weeks. The out-going Mexican officials, led by Ildefonso Guajardo, are optimistic terms of agreement can be reached with the U.S; the incoming Mexican officials led by AMLO’s Jesus Seade, not so much.
The key issue is still theNAFTA fatal flaw that allows both Canada and Mexico to exploit their access to the U.S. market as brokers for imported Asian parts, assembled in Mexico/Canada, and the finished goods shipped into the U.S. That structural issue remains unresolved; hence the impasse.
Meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland wants to reenter the trade discussion after being shut out since the beginning of May.
(Reuters) – Canada is “very keen” on concluding negotiations to renew the North American Free Trade Agreement as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Saturday, amid signs of progress after months of delays.
