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Judi Lynn

(160,213 posts)
Wed Aug 30, 2017, 04:06 PM Aug 2017

This is why Trump has the leverage over Mexico and Canada on NAFTA

This is why Trump has the leverage over Mexico and Canada on NAFTA
BY FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
fordonez@mcclatchydc.com

AUGUST 30, 2017 3:53 PM

WASHINGTON

Canada and Mexico would like nothing more than to sideline the United States and create a bilateral trade agreement that excludes their suddenly unreliable neighbor.

But they can't create a deal worth the trouble without access to America’s markets, senior officials of both governments concede. And that realization gives a significant advantage to President Donald Trump as he threatens to reopen the bedrock NAFTA partnership.

“Even though it would be easy to reach a bilateral agreement because we have the NAFTA framework, it doesn’t amount to much without the United States,” said Jorge Guajardo, Mexico's former ambassador to China who is familiar with the negotiations. “That is what made NAFTA powerful.”

As negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico kick off a second round of talks on Friday in Mexico City, Trump has been amping up the rhetoric against the 23-year-old agreement, threatening to pull out during a rally in Phoenix last week and then again on Monday at the White House.

More:
http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article170263767.html

Editorials and other articles:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016192346

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