It was a key campaign issue for then candidate, and now President Donald Trump. One of the things Trump said he would do if elected is work to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement, better known as NAFTA. It’s a trilateral agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. But, the President did an abrupt about face.
It came as good news to the Los Angeles consul generals to Canada and Mexico, who were already set to take part in a forum on NAFTA at Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo.
It was expected he would announced the termination of the agreement on Saturday, the 100th day of his presidency. After key advisors showed him that the very people who supported him would be among the hardest hit, he backed down, saying he will instead work to renegotiate aspect of the deal.
Carlos Garcia de Alba is Mexico’s Consul General, Los Angeles. The government official says there’s no questions all three nations have seen some successes, and some setbacks as a result of NAFTA. He says there is room for improvement.
NAFTA is a complex deal. It ended tariffs between the U.S. and Mexico. It resulted in major changes in agriculture involving the countries. And, in perhaps what became the most controversial issues for the U.S., it led to some American plant closures, with production moved to Mexico because of lower labor costs. But, most U.S. economists agree America has benefited overall.
Consul General of Canada Los Angeles James Villaneuve says while there was a lot of rhetoric during the campaign, he’s relieved that the President’s position has shifted from trying to eliminate NAFTA to trying to renegotiate parts of it.
Cal State Channel Islands Professor Sung Wong Song, who represented the U.S. position in the forum, says dumping NAFTA was the wrong concept. The noted economist says that when it comes to trade issues, the biggest problems the U.S. is facing aren’t with Canada or Mexico, but with China. Song says while NAFTA gets a lot of bashing politically, he believes it’s actually served the U.S. well overall. He says if he had to give it an overall grade, it’s earned a “B”.
Those at the forum say NAFTA could use some improvement, but it’s in the form of minor changes and not a major overhaul. They note that since NAFTA first went into effect in 1994, there are technologies which have changed drastically and jobs types which didn’t even exist which could benefit from a modernized agreement.
