Trump Is Winning on Trade
President Trump hailed Monday a last-minute agreement with Canada that would in effect rebrand the North American Free Trade Agreement. He called the pact, which also includes Mexico, “a great deal for all three countries [that] solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in nafta.”
The new agreement, announced late Sunday, is being labeled the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA, and it ends months of uncertainty over what Trump’s longtime aversion to nafta would mean for the accord, which went into effect in 1994.
Renegotiating was a key what Trump called a bilateral trade agreement with Mexico, but a similar pact with Canada proved trickier. Negotiations between the two sides were at an impasse over access to Canada’s highly protected dairy sector, Canadian auto imports to the U.S., and how trade disputes are settled. Further details are expected Tuesday; on Monday, different observers had different assessments of the significance of the changes—from to . If nothing else, the agreement gives Trump a political win.
