[CTC] Trump tweets: 'NAFTA is a bad joke!' / Trump not inclined to pull out of NAFTA, but status 'is subject to daily change'

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Two articles below...

Inside US Trade

Trump tweets: 'NAFTA is a bad joke!'

January 18, 2018
 
NAFTA is a “bad joke,” according to President Trump.
 
On Twitter Thursday morning, the president issued two tweets about his proposed border wall with Mexico, insisting – as he did last week <https://insidetrade.com/node/161567> – that it will be paid for “directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S.”
 
“The $20 billion dollar Wall is 'peanuts' compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S.,” he added, concluding the tweet with “NAFTA is a bad joke!”
 
....The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is “peanuts” compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 <https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/953951365532876800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
 
Mexico's chief NAFTA negotiator, Kenneth Smith Ramos, had a concise answer to Trump's assertion last week that the wall would be paid for by Mexico, tweeting that “the issue of the payment for a #border #wall is not, and will never be, part of the #NAFTA,” and adding: “#negotiations #wearenotjoking <https://twitter.com/KenSmithramos/status/951613512106823681>.”
 
Thursday's presidential tweets -- which the White House has are akin to presidential policy declarations -- followed some signs that Trump may be softening in his aversion to NAFTA, with senators and other stakeholders speaking openly about their newfound optimism that withdrawal could be taken off the table.
 
But yesterday Trump told Reuters it was not. Repeating familiar rhetoric about the deal, he said “A lot of people are going to be unhappy if I terminate NAFTA. A lot of people don’t realize how good it would be to terminate NAFTA because the way you’re going to make the best deal is to terminate NAFTA <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-nafta-exclusive/exclusive-trump-says-terminating-nafta-would-yield-the-best-deal-in-renegotiations-idUSKBN1F703Y>. But people would like to see me not do that.”
 
Writing in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Republican strategist and former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove said withdrawal would “ruin” American farmers <https://www.wsj.com/articles/killing-nafta-would-ruin-american-farmers-1516234107> and badly damage GOP chances to hold onto control of Congress this year.
 
Rove also warned that “auto states” would be harmed – and would not forget at the ballot box – should the deal end.
“Killing NAFTA would damage Republicans in agricultural, auto and border states and help elect more Democrats in 2018, strengthening the party’s impeachment efforts,” Rove concluded. “Mr. President, it isn’t worth it.”
 
 
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/16/kudlow-trump-not-inclined-to-pull-out-of-nafta-but-that-could-change.html

Kudlow: Trump not inclined to pull out of NAFTA, but status 'is subject to daily change'

By Michelle Fox
January 16, 2018

President Donald Trump is not inclined to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, CNBC senior contributor Larry Kudlow said Tuesday, citing White House sources.

Instead, the president is inclined to renegotiate the pact between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, "difficult as that's going to be," Kudlow said.

Still, Kudlow, who has been concerned about Trump possibly walking away from NAFTA, cautioned that "this is subject to daily change."

Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the trade agreement unless there are major changes to make it, in his eyes, a fairer deal for the U.S.

Last week, Reuters reported that Canada is increasingly convinced that Trump will pull out of NAFTA. Trump then told The Wall Street Journal that he will leave his decision on a deal "a little bit flexible" because of the presidential election in Mexico this year.

Kudlow said the U.S. doesn't want to play into the Mexican election, which could make things "far worse."

He also suspects the Trump administration knows that leaving NAFTA will knock the stock market down.

"There's a potential blow up in the stock market if we leave NAFTA. We're talking agriculture. We're talking car parts. We're talking trucking, transportation, energy," he said.
 
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