The New Commerce Secretary Says NAFTA Restructuring Will be a Priority

trump nafta

During the entire 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump attacked bad trade deals and promised to get better deals for the American people.

A huge part of his appeal to blue collar workers, Democrats, union workers, and middle America was his insistence that politicians and bureaucrats have been gutting our country in order to make a cheap buck in places like China.

Conservatives have historically disagreed on trade – but one thing is certain: trade “deals” are written by politicians to help politically-connected corporations. They’re not written with the economy or American jobs in mind.

Now, President-elect Trump sounds like he’s going to go after the biggest of all trade deals right away when he takes office!

Wilbur Ross, Donald Trump’s selection to lead the Commerce Department, on Wednesday evening indicated that the Trump administration will make renegotiating NAFTA a priority.

“We’re working out the fine-point details, but NAFTA is logical starting point,” Ross told CNN when asked about his priorities.

Trump made trade one of his biggest issues on the campaign trail, and a draft memo from Trump’s transition team obtained by CNN in November shows that the President-elect may start the process to renegotiate or withdraw from NAFTA within the first 100 days.

This would be a massive change, and it’s unclear how many Republicans in Congress would support the move. Politicians like House Speaker Paul Ryan support NAFTA-like trade deals like the so-called Trans-Pacific-Partnership, which would be even bigger and more encompassing.

Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, has made a career specializing in turning around failing companies. He also worked for New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to specialize in privatizing inefficient government programs. He could be the right guy to renegotiate NAFTA.

According to some estimates, NAFTA has cost the US almost 900,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs. It’s clear that, with so much support for Trump in the “rust belt” and middle America, he has a mandate to renegotiate these trade deals.

What do you think? Should Trump renegotiate NAFTA? And do you think Wilbur Ross is the right choice for Commerce Secretary? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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