Trump to begin renegotiating NAFTA deal with Mexico, Canada

It is “impossible to renegotiate it, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said days after Trump published the video on YouTube”.

Prime Minister Bill English says New Zealand will need to work with other countries if the USA walks away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Sun said Taiwan has been pushing for its “New Southbound Policy”, so it was necessary for the country to seek how to build up a link between this policy and its trade ties with the USA under the Trump administration.

The Canadian Steel Producers Association said the existing NAFTA deal has worked well for its members and the manufacturers it supports.

Trump condemned NAFTA on the campaign trail, claiming it had contributed to job losses, lost manufacturing and economic decline, and threatened to impose big tariffs on imports from Mexico.

‘But we’re going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration and on security at the border’.

Mexico could fairly easily retaliate with tariffs on goods that have regional impacts in the U.S. In 1996, for example, Mexico shocked American wine and spirits makers by imposing a temporary 20 percent retaliatory tariff against whiskey and wine products after the U.S. imposed tariffs on Mexican-made brooms.

Former president Barack Obama was also critical of the NAFTA when he was a presidential candidate and later made efforts to renegotiate the deal in the form of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP).

In contrast, Toshiaki Tobita, chairman of the Hokkaido arm of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, sounded somewhat more welcoming about the U.S. move to withdraw from the TPP, crediting his organisation with waging a successful campaign to protect farming in the largely agrarian region.

Experts say NAFTA’s zero-tariff rate would be extremely hard to alter.

Detroit’s big-three manufacturers, Ford, GM and Fiat-Chrysler are all expected to increase production of their vehicles in Mexico, while construction in Canada and the US will fall, despite recent investment announcements that would suggest they are increasing. America’s three largest manufactured-goods trading partners are China, Canada and Mexico, in that order.

The consensus on NAFTA’s result on the US economy is mixed, with most studies concluding the deal has only had a modest benefit on the US GDP.

Mexico may be the target of rule changes, but Kronby adds Canada could end up as “collateral damage”.

“Mexico has been terrific, actually… and the president has been really very incredible, and I think we’re going to have a very good result for Mexico, for the United States, for everybody involved”, he said.

Both reports make similar arguments: protectionist actions by the USA would trigger a trade war, which would drive up prices and hurt American consumers by reducing their purchasing power.

Trade and Investment Minister Steven Ciobo said President Trump’s decision not to ratify the TPP at this time was disappointing – but not unexpected.

“There’s an alternate agreement led by the Chinese called RCEP that includes India, Japan as well as Australia and all the ASEAN countries”.

Trump will met with Pena Nieto separately on January 31.

Although Mr Trump campaigned on a detailed 18-point plan of things to do on Day One, he has since backed off some of his promised speed, downplaying the importance of a rapid-fire approach to complex issues that may involve negotiations with Congress or foreign leaders.

He praised Pena Nieto, who has faced low popularity in Mexico due to corruption scandals and rising inflation.