President Donald Trump signed a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada at a ceremony Thursday in Buenos Aires, Argentina, predicting it would be “the envy of nations all around the world.”
The United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) is expected to replace NAFTA – a pact Trump has called a “disaster.”
“These new provisions will benefit labor, technology and development in each of our nations,” Trump said Friday.
Meanwhile, the deal still needs to be ratified by lawmakers in all three countries. Supporters say it will promote fair competition, higher wages and is good news for auto workers.
Under the new pact, 75 percent of automobiles content must be manufactured in North America.
“This will help stop auto jobs from going overseas and bring back auto jobs that already left,” Trump said.
Canada agrees as it too will feel the effect of General Motors’ plans to close factories and lay off thousands of workers.
“Make no mistake we will stand up for our workers and fight for their families and communities – and Donald, it’s all the more reason why we need to keep working to remove the tariffs on steel and aluminum between our countries,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the president.
That subject is a hot topic, especially as Trump prepares to meet face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I’ve been around Trump a lot in terms of talking about China; he believes they are adversarial in terms of their relationship with us. He believes correctly that they are engaged in very abusive trade practices,” Steve Moore, an economist with the Heritage Foundation, told CBN News.
Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports resulted in Beijing placing penalties on $60 billion of US products.
“I believe that if we don’t see more progress at these talks I think Trump will move forward with even higher tariffs on China,” Moore warned.
With the ball now in China’s court, some are wondering why it doesn’t want to play. Moore offers two possibilities.
“One, they don’t want to be seen as backing down to Donald Trump, so it’s a face-saving thing,” Moore said. “And also, this is the struggle in the battle of our time will the United States or China to be the economic superpower of the 21st century.”
Meanwhile, another issue making headlines is President Trump’s cancellation of planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to Russia’s actions against Ukraine during a naval confrontation last weekend.
The incident in question unfolded last Sunday, when Russian border guards rammed into and opened fire on three Ukrainian Navy vessels traveling from the Black Sea toward a Ukrainian port. The Russians then captured the ships and their crews.
Russia’s foreign minister expressed regrets over the cancelled meeting with Trump, but said “love can’t be forced.”
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN
