Page 9 - July-August 2018 GSE Report Flip Book

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
JJUALN. U- ARUYG. 22001188
Trump administration had opposed these tribunals, while U.S. industry groups as well as Mexico and Canada wanted to keep them, because reduced the risk of investing in other Nafta countries. As part of the deal, the dispute settlement panels will remain for certain industries, but not others. Oil and gas, energy and infrastructure companies will retain their ability to go to the dispute settlement panels.
Agriculture. The U.S. and Mexico agreed not to impose tariffs on each other’s agricultural goods, and not to use export subsidies. Free trade in agriculture was firmly established
in the original Nafta, and today’s deal preserves most of those provisions. The deal—and an apparent shift toward more conciliatory U.S. trade policy—could be a source of special relief for farmers, who have borne the brunt of retaliatory tariffs.”
“What this deal does, it’s a two-way deal,” said Fox News’ Stuart Varney. “It’s America and Mexico. It encourages vehicle production in North America rather than Asia. And by bumping up the wages earned by car workers in Mexico, they go from, like, $3.50 an hour to $16 an hour. That’s a major disincentive for Ford and GM and others to produce in Mexico. Produce here, because they no longer have that big labor cost advantage.”
“I think [President Trump] has a good chance of pulling it off with Nafta,” said Wells Securities chief economist John Silvia. “If he pulls it off with Nafta and they increase the amount of local content that has to be in a product, in order for it to be shipped with North America, that will help bring the supply chain back to North America and it’ll help the economies of Mexico, the United States and Canada. There certainly are some challenges out there, but I believe on most fronts we’re moving in the right direction.” (Press Release, Office of the United States Trade Representative Lighthizer, 08/31/18; Wall Street Journal, Josh Zumbrun, 08/27/18; Fox News, Stuart Varney, 08/28/18; CNBC, Mark Vitner, 08/29/18)
The Trump administration fights for fairer trade
At the June meeting of the G-7 nations, President Trump said trade among the G7 should be free of tariffs and other barriers. At a press conference, Trump said, “No tariffs, no barriers, that’s the way it should be—and no subsidies.” Pointing to Canadian duties on U.S. dairy products, Trump added, “We don’t want to pay anything—why should we pay? Ultimately, that’s what you want. You want a tariff free, no barriers and you want no subsidies.” (CNBC, Spencer Kimball, 06/09/18)
© 2018 by Canfield Press, LLC. All rights reserved. www.canfieldpress.com 10