Could wrecking Nafta be Donald Trump’s first success?
The US president’s record of non-accomplishment, along with a trade pact that has served the US economy well for decades, may be about to end
President Donald Trump has been attacking trade for months, but believers in the value of international competition have drawn comfort from his reputation for empty talk and record of nonaccomplishment. That record, along with a trade pact that has served the US economy well for decades, may be about to end. Talks on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement resumed last week — and the US is proposing several changes that would weaken and possibly even wreck it. Unfortunately, in trade policy, the president has all the power he needs to do real harm. The administration says it wants to toughen Nafta’s rules of origin. At the moment, for instance, US car imports from Canada and Mexico must have 62.5% of their content produced in the three countries; there’s talk of raising that, and adding a new US-made requirement. Depending on how far they go, such changes could disrupt long-established supply chains, raise costs, and even increase US imports by switching demand to vehicles ...
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