U.S., Canada, Mexico sign trade deal, Trump shrugs off Congress hurdle

[rooster59]

U.S., Canada, Mexico sign trade deal, Trump shrugs off Congress hurdle

By Roberta Rampton

 

U.S. President Donald Trump, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto attend the USMCA signing ceremony before the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The United States, Canada and Mexico signed a North American trade pact on Friday, with President Donald Trump brushing aside concerns that he could face difficulties getting the deal through the U.S. Congress.

 

The leaders of the three countries agreed on a deal in principle to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which governs more than $1.2 trillion of mutual trade, after acrimonious negotiations concluded on Sept. 30.

 

Friday's signing potentially ends a big source of irritation for the U.S. administration as it pivots to a much bigger trade fight with China that threatens the global economy. All eyes are on a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday after a G20 summit in Buenos Aires.

 

Trump had vowed to revamp NAFTA during his 2016 presidential election campaign. He threatened to tear it up and withdraw the United States completely at times during the negotiation, which would have left trade between the three neighbors in disarray.

 

The three were still bickering over the finer points of the deal just hours before officials were due to sit down and sign it.

 

"It's been long and hard. We've taken a lot of barbs and a little abuse and we got there," Trump said after the signing.

 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau still had a few barbs of his own on Friday. He called the deal by its old name NAFTA, prodded Trump over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, and said General Motors Co's <GM.N> decision to cut production and slash its North American workforce, including in Canada, was a "heavy blow."

 

"Donald, it's all the more reason why we need to keep working to remove the tariffs on steel and aluminum between our two countries," Trudeau said.

 

Mexico's outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto was warmer. On his last day in office, he said the new deal was forged with the "firm belief that together we are stronger and more competitive."

 

Legislators from the three countries must still approve the pact, officially known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), before it goes into effect and replaces NAFTA.

 

But the U.S. landscape will shift significantly in January when Democrats take control of the House of Representatives, after winning midterm elections in November.

 

Presumptive incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi described the deal as a "work in progress" that lacks worker and environment protections.

 

"This is not something where we have a piece of paper we can say yes or no to," she said at a news conference on Friday, noting that Mexico had yet to pass a law on wages and working conditions.

 

Other Democrats, backed by unions that oppose the pact, have called for stronger enforcement provisions for new labor and environmental standards, arguing that USMCA's state-to-state dispute settlement mechanism is too weak.

 

"There is still a ways to go to gain support in the new Congress for this agreement," said Representative Bill Pascrell, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee.

 

Still, Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed confidence that the NAFTA replacement would pass Congress.

 

"It's been so well reviewed I don't expect to have very much of a problem," Trump said.

 

Lighthizer said the pact was negotiated from the beginning to be a bipartisan agreement. "I think we'll get the support of a lot of Democrats," he told reporters.

 

Trump had forced Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the 24-year-old agreement because he said the existing pact encouraged U.S. companies to move jobs to low-wage Mexico.

 

U.S. objections to Canada's protected internal market for dairy products was a major challenge facing negotiators during the talks, and Trump repeatedly demanded concessions and accused Canada of hurting U.S. farmers.

 

Matt Blunt, the head of the main lobbying group for GM, Ford <F.N> and Fiat-Chrysler <FCHA.MI>, applauded the deal, saying it would keep north American automotive manufacturing competitive and included a first-ever provision to address currency manipulation.

 

"However, we remain concerned that the continued imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico will undermine the benefits of the USMCA," added Blunt, who heads the American Automotive Policy Council.

 

Foreign brand automakers have expressed concerns that the new rules of origin, which require more high-value content be produced in the United States or Canada, will be too burdensome.

 

BDI, Germany's main industry association, said in a statement that the autos rules of origin were "a retrograde step compared with NAFTA."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-01

 

 

[YetAnother]

6 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

"It's been so well reviewed I don't expect to have very much of a problem," Trump said.

alarmingly high percentage of trump photos catch him with his mouth open, wonder why that is

[TopDeadSenter]

8 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

alarmingly high percentage of trump photos catch him with his mouth open, wonder why that is

Unlike the person sat next to him, Trump is not there to look pretty. Trump has an open mouth in pics because he is one high energy guy, he can't stop cutting deals, applying pressure, and making his country great again. After 2 years you guys should know this by now.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

14 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

alarmingly high percentage of trump photos catch him with his mouth open, wonder why that is

 

Because he doesn't know how to shut it???

[pegman]

8 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Unlike the person sat next to him, Trump is not there to look pretty. Trump has an open mouth in pics because he is one high energy guy, he can't stop cutting deals, applying pressure, and making his country great again. After 2 years you guys should know this by now.

So why the orange complexion, dye job and weave/plugs? 

[PatOngo]

And who's going to pay for THE WALL???

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Unlike the person sat next to him, Trump is not there to look pretty. Trump has an open mouth in pics because he is one high energy guy, he can't stop cutting deals, applying pressure, and making his country great again. After 2 years you guys should know this by now.

Don't forget...…..lying!......He's the greatest liar in the history of...…...history!

[JoePai]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Unlike the person sat next to him, Trump is not there to look pretty. Trump has an open mouth in pics because he is one high energy guy, he can't stop cutting deals, applying pressure, and making his country great again. After 2 years you guys should know this by now.

The best sarcastic post so far today, well done 

[Boon Mee]

46 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

And who's going to pay for THE WALL???

Mexico will of course.

[attrayant]

2 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Mexico will of course.

 

Explain how.

 

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Trump had vowed to revamp NAFTA during his 2016 presidential election campaign. He threatened to tear it up and withdraw the United States completely at times during the negotiation, which would have left trade between the three neighbors in disarray.

 

 

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau still had a few barbs of his own on Friday. He called the deal by its old name NAFTA, prodded Trump over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, and said General Motors Co's <GM.N> decision to cut production and slash its North American workforce, including in Canada, was a "heavy blow."

 

"Donald, it's all the more reason why we need to keep working to remove the tariffs on steel and aluminum between our two countries," Trudeau said.

Obviously still some disagreement on how good this deal is, and I read somewhere a while back that despite all the orange muppet's claims, this deal does not vary significantly from the previous one...…….any comments on this aspect?

[blazes]

Three stooges about to be turfed out of business.....

[neeray]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Mexico will of course.

555

[neeray]

If he hasn't received 'the boot' by that time, he will get his deal through by throwing a hissy fit and threatening the Democrats with horrors (or whores) that they never dreamed even existed.

During negotiations, he'll coin some childish names for a few, others he'll patronize by saying they are good men or beautiful women. A heavily modified version of the deal will be signed and he'll claim it was all his doing and that it's a fantastic deal for America, a truly fantastic deal.

Sure Donald.

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Mexico will of course.

The irony is that Trump thought his new import tariffs on Mexican products would pay for the wall, not understanding that tariffs are paid by Americans.

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

The irony is that Trump thought his new import tariffs on Mexican products would pay for the wall, not understanding that tariffs are paid by Americans.

He's very dumb but even he never really believed Mexico would pay for the wall. This was revealed very early on in a leaked conversation with the Mexican leader. He got very angry and insisted that it was of the utmost importance that Mexico play along about the wall for his own political purposes. He wasn't demanding that Mexico actually literally pay for it, just don't make a big show about NOT paying for it. Similar to his racist birther movement thing. It's well documented that he never believed it himself, but that it worked for him politically. That's all he cares about. What works for him and what makes him and his family richer. That may be OK for mere businessman but for a president, it's a disaster. Karma awaits.

Edited December 1, 2018 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

6 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Unlike the person sat next to him, Trump is not there to look pretty. Trump has an open mouth in pics because he is one high energy guy, he can't stop cutting deals, applying pressure, and making his country great again. After 2 years you guys should know this by now.

Good sarcasm. 

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, attrayant said:

 

Explain how.

 

He can't because that will definitely NEVER happen. "trump" doesn't even talk about that anymore. 

[Jingthing]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

Obviously still some disagreement on how good this deal is, and I read somewhere a while back that despite all the orange muppet's claims, this deal does not vary significantly from the previous one...…….any comments on this aspect?

Basically "trump" wanted to rebrand Nafta. That's his game in business -- branding, either positively or negatively. But people should just call it Nafta 2.0. USMCA is STUPID. 

[helpisgood]

5 hours ago, PatOngo said:

And who's going to pay for THE WALL???

 

A Mexican president who wants to commit political suicide, aka, no one.  

[EVENKEEL]

Anyone who took the words "Mexico will pay for the wall" seriously and literally are a few cards short of a full deck.

[Tug]

Let’s hope we finally get a win haven’t seen that with this guy yet just a lot of lying corruption and epic incompetence 

[neeray]

1 hour ago, Tug said:

Let’s hope we finally get a win haven’t seen that with this guy yet just a lot of lying corruption and epic incompetence 

I don't think you should expect any great wins (I know you don't). The veneer has been peeled away from Mr Deal Maker. Most now know that he is dangerous to associate with and doesn't keep his word on squat anyway. And they know his threaten and bluff game all too well.

[quandow]

17 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Don't forget...…..lying!......He's the greatest liar in the history of...…...history!

He tells the best lies . . . the GREATEST lies!