U.S. President Donald Trump says the United States and Mexico have reached a trade agreement, leaving Canada as the odd man out in efforts to revise or replace the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Speaking Monday from the White House, Trump said the new deal will be called the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement.
Trump spoke to reporters as he spoke on the telephone to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Trump called it a big day for trade and a big day for the country. Trump said:"This is something that is very special for our manufacturers and for our farmers, from both countries, for all of the people that work for jobs. It is also great trade, and it makes it a much more fair bill, and we are very very excited about it. We have worked long and hard, your representatives have been terrific, my representatives have been fantastic too. They have gotten along very well, and they have worked late into the night for months. It is an extremely complex bill, and it is something that I think will be talked about for many years to come."
The Mexican leader expressed hope to “renew, modernize and update” NAFTA while Trump’s rhetoric indicated he sees that 24-year-old three-nation deal as dead.
Canada, an original member of NAFTA, is not part of this deal. Trump said the United States would start negotiating with Canada very shortly.
Trump said under the deal, Mexico has agreed to immediately begin purchasing as many U.S. agricultural products as possible. The White House is also expected to formally notify Congress by the end of this week of its intention to sign a new trade agreement within 90 days.