Trump says Canada not needed in NAFTA deal, warns Congress not to interfere

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday there was no need to keep Canada in the North American Free Trade Agreement and warned Congress not to meddle with the trade negotiations or he would terminate the trilateral trade pact altogether.

"There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. If we don’t make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out," Trump said on Twitter.

"Congress should not interfere w/ these negotiations or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely & we will be far better off," he added.

Trump on Friday notified Congress of his intent to sign a bilateral deal with Mexico, after contentious talks with Canada ended on Friday without a deal to revamp NAFTA. Trump had unveiled a deal with Mexico on Monday.

Lawmakers on Friday warned that a deal with Mexico could struggle to win approval from Congress unless Canada was also included. Support from Democrats would be needed to pass a purely bilateral deal, they said.

Trump on Monday threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian-made cars if Canada did not join the talks to revamp NAFTA, which he has repeatedly criticized. Trump on Saturday, in his Twitter posts, reprised his attacks that NAFTA has resulted in a loss of U.S. jobs and business.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-says-canada-not-needed-in-nafta-deal-warns-congress-not-to-interfere/ar-BBMGQqg?li=BBnb7Kz

What an ignorant ass.

[C_U_L8R]

1. Congress ought to wake up.

This behavior is atrocious. Intervention is needed.

[Volaris]

6. Lol if he cancels nafta outright the national Chamber of Commerce will run ads to have him impeached

What a dumbass ahahahahhaha!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Good thing it is not so easy for him to just cancel NAFTA without Congress. . . . nt

[Blue_true]

16. Will the republican Congress do anything if he does try?

I doubt it.

[D_Master81]

2. who needs Congress

why not just get rid of them all and have Trump just run everything. I mean with Republicans in charge it kinda is like that anyhow.

[SidDithers]

3. Canada has a nuclear response to Trumps trade war, if it wanted to use it...

Drug patents could be Canada's special weapon in U.S. trade dispute

Taking an 'asymmetrical' approach and targeting U.S. intellectual property has worked in the past, experts say

snip

And so Attaran is suggesting that Canada take aim at U.S. drug patents.

The U.S. holds more pharmaceutical patents and other intellectual property licences than any other country. But that strength could become a vulnerability if Canada took action to suspend American patents on Canadian soil. Canadian companies would then be able to produce those drugs.

"You hit us on tariffs, we hit you on patents," he said.

snip

The power is not so much in the action, but in the threat: To make the pharmaceutical lobby nervous enough to pressure the U.S. administration to resolve the current trade dispute with Canada.

"That industry is the single most powerful lobby in Washington," said Attaran."There is nothing that industry is more afraid of losing than control of their patents."

snip

Attaran believes the tool already exists in trade law governing drug patents. He points to a historical example: Back in the days before the 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, Ottawa routinely granted domestic drug companies the right to manufacture U.S. drugs — a practice that ended when the FTA and NAFTA were signed.

"If you want to go there, Washington, and start behaving in a pre-NAFTA, pre-free trade way, as by imposing tariffs, well, then we're also going to behave in a pre-free trade way, as by taking your patents," Attaran said.

Sid

[ornotna]

4. We're in for some painful times until this nightmare ends

[Jarqui]

5. Does Trump really understand the US Deficit problem:

A chart showing the deficit as a % of trade volume done would have Canada even higher on the list.

This is Trump being petulant because Trudeau showed him up. So the rest of America and Canada must suffer for the child president's temper tantrum.

It is questionable Trump has the authority to actually do as he claims
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/26/16505508/nafta-congress-block-trump-withdraw-trade-power

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/trump-terminate-nafta-180829200651670.html

What he will do is hurt the stock market and economy by placing such uncertainty on it. Not a good thing to do before the midterms ...

wouldn't want to hurt China where Donald and Ivanka get their products made.



Stupid is as stupid does

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. That chart is goods only. US usually runs trade surplus (goods & services) with Canada.

Only tRump would want to destroy that.

Oh, wait.

Putin would love to destroy it too.

[Jarqui]

10. Here's another chart

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/08/nafta-talks-begin-this-week/

Our trade deficit with Canada is pretty much all oil. When you look at the trade deficit ex energy, it’s actually positive: we export more to Canada than we import.

In the case of Mexico, we import practically no oil anymore, so excluding energy makes little difference. In 2016, the trade deficit ex energy reached $70.8 billion.

https://www.businessinsider.com/state-and-country-trade-maps-2015-7

We took a look at the biggest trade partners by dollar value of goods imported and exported for each state in 2014.

Here's the country that each state imports the most from. Canada and China loom large:

Here's the country that each state exports the most to. The states that border Mexico send a lot of goods there, and 35 states have Canada as their biggest export partner:

I think he's doing this to score points for the midterms. Canada is not a big problem in terms of trade - it is one of the the best customers for the US.

and he's going to try to nuke Obamacare for votes:
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/31/trump-ducey-mccain-senate-arizona-806009

He's a shallow, selfish, dishonest man. He'll screw the whole country before he'll let Mueller catch him. He's got to hang on the the house so he can shut Mueller down.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Good charts and maps. Yes, he is actually desperate for a deal for the midterms. . . . nt

[LakeSuperiorView]

14. What does Switzerland buy from Nevada?

Or is that cash disappearing into numbered accounts?

[Jarqui]

15. Apparently gold to back Switzerland's currency

https://qz.com/268164/why-switzerland-is-nevadas-biggest-foreign-trading-partner/

[Turbineguy]

7. Why would this Congress need a warning

not to interfere?

[Blue_true]

17. He don't want the republican Congress interfering by licking his boots while he screws up. nt

[smirkymonkey]

11. Does he even know how any of this works?

Who is advising him on this matter? This is insane.

He is destroying our reputation in the world and our relationships with our closest allies. We can't afford another two years of this shit.

[DrDan]

13. he wants it to fail - he now has a reason to blame congress