US President Donald Trump threatens to exclude Canada from new NAFTA deal
A day after no consensus could be reached on the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) agreement between American and Canadian officials, United States President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to exclude Ottawa from the treaty, if a "fair deal" for Washington was not drafted.
Trump also warned Congress that he would terminate the deal "entirely" if the lawmakers interfered in the negotiations.
"There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. If we don't make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out. Congress should not interfere w/ these negotiations or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely and we will be far better off..," he tweeted.
Terming NAFTA as one of the "worst trade deals" ever made, the US President said that the country had lost "thousands of businesses and millions of jobs" and added that the deal should have never been signed.
"Remember, NAFTA was one of the WORST Trade Deals ever made. The U.S. lost thousands of businesses and millions of jobs. We were far better off before NAFTA - should never have been signed. Even the Vat Tax was not accounted for. We make new deal or go back to pre-NAFTA!" he tweeted.
On August 31, Trump reportedly told lawmakers that he was willing to enter into a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, "if it was willing to do so, in a timely manner."
Prior to that, Trump had announced that he would be "terminating" the NAFTA deal and renaming the new treaty as the "United States-Mexico Trade Agreement."
Calling the new accord as "incredible and elegant", the US President underlined that both Washington and Mexico have reached an "understanding".
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, meanwhile, lauded the new deal and expressed hope that Canada would be a part of the trade treaty in the near future, while Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said that a "win-win" agreement that would benefit all the sides was within reach.
Trump has been deriding the NAFTA, claiming it was the "worst ever deal" and hurt the interests of the American manufacturers. Negotiations on the deal began nearly one year ago.
(ANI)
First published: 2 September 2018, 10:57 IST