Democrats Reject Trump Nafta Deal Without Canada

09/28/2018

|

William Mauldin | Wall Street Journal

The Trump administration’s move to proceed with a new North American Free Trade Agreement without Canada is running into resistance from a group that officials had hoped would provide significant support for the revised pact: congressional Democrats. Some traditional Democratic constituents, including unions and other labor interests, have supported efforts to address labor issues in the Nafta revision. But several Democratic lawmakers briefed by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday instead expressed discontent with Trump administration plans to advance a Nafta deal in the days ahead that drops Canada and moves forward with just Mexico.
Mr. Lighthizer has signaled that Canada could rejoin the agreement later, an idea that supporters of the Trump administration’s trade policy have embraced. Still, some lawmakers on committees overseeing trade expressed disappointment that the administration was bringing them a bilateral deal with Mexico—at least for now—rather than the trilateral deal it told Congress it would begin negotiating a year ago.
Read more here