Trump agrees not to terminate NAFTA

Trump told The Associated Press in an interview last week that he planned to either renegotiate or terminate NAFTA, which he and other critics blame for wiping out US manufacturing jobs because it allowed companies to move factories to Mexico to take advantage of low-wage labor.

Last week, Trump derided NAFTA during remarks in Wisconsin meant to highlight American manufacturing.

The announcement came after White House officials disclosed that Trump and his advisers had been considering issuing an executive order to withdraw the United States from the trade pact with Canada and Mexico, one of the world's biggest trading blocs.

Earlier, the White House said Mr. Trump "agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders would proceed swiftly to enable the renegotiation to the benefit of all three countries".

Following the outcry, President Trump said in a statement: "It is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation". "It is an honor to deal with both President Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, and I believe that the end result will make all three countries stronger and better", Trump was quoted as saying in the statement. They had not met each other previously.

As theories about what exactly informed Trump's decision to reverse his threat to pull out of NAFTA swirled the last two days, one story from the Washington Post offered a striking picture of the president's last-minute deliberation.

"I respect their countries very much". The prime minister said he pointed out that a lot of jobs and industries were developed under NAFTA - if the deal were cancelled, it would create too much disruption.

Making it more expensive to export USA products north and south would cost United States jobs, experts say. "Canada can do some things better that we do, and that's the essence of trade", said Perdue. The average United States tariff is only 3.5% for exports coming from countries that don't have a trade deal with the US. They like Trump, but I like them, and I'm going to help them'.

NAFTA has been a fixture in U.S. relations with its two neighbors since it went into effect January 1, 1994 under president Bill Clinton. Investors were rethinking their assumptions that Trump would back away from some of the drastic actions on trade that he had promised during the presidential campaign.

"I am very upset with NAFTA".

"Hey, I'm a nationalist and a globalist", Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The possible executive order, first reported by Politico, sent stocks and currencies falling in Mexico and Canada.

The New York Times recently quoted an unnamed senior administration official saying that Trump is likely to sign an executive action that would begin the process of withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA. White House officials had earlier said the administration was considering efforts to withdraw. Reports that Trump was considering an executive order to withdraw the US from the pact "sent a shudder through the markets", National Bank analyst Angelo Katsoras said in a research note.

Usually, when a president so openly breaks a campaign promise, voters come after them and demand answers.