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Trump tells Canada, Mexico, he won't terminate NAFTA treaty yet

Thursday, April 27, 2017 - 01:33

U.S. President Donald Trump told the leaders of Canada and Mexico on Wednesday that he will not terminate the NAFTA treaty at this stage, but will move quickly to begin renegotiating it with them, the White House said.

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U.S. President Donald Trump telling the leaders of Canada and Mexico he's not planning to pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement - yet. But the White House saying Trump wants to soon begin renegotiating the trade deal. In case you've forgotten how Trump feels about NAFTA, here's a quick refresher: (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) DONALD TRUMP ON OCTOBER 22, SAYING: 'Totally renegotiate NAFTA.' (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) DONALD TRUMP ON FEBRUARY 28, SAYING: 'We've lost more than one-fourth of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved.' (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) DONALD TRUMP ON APRIL 18, SAYING: 'And we're going to make some very big changes or we are going to get rid of NAFTA once and for all.' (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) DONALD TRUMP ON APRIL 20, SAYING: 'It's a disaster, a trading disaster.' The White House had been considering issuing an executive order withdrawing the U.S. unilaterally from NAFTA to mark Trump's 100th day in office on Saturday, and fulfill a campaign promise. But his advisers were split over whether to take the step. And he faced pushback from business groups. The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce praising the free trade deal in a visit to Mexico this week. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, THOMAS J. DONOHUE, SAYING: 'We will not let up until we achieve an even stronger NAFTA agreement.' The deal is blamed for moving low-wage U.S. jobs to Mexico and easing the flow of low-cost Canadian raw materials into the U.S. It's also provided American consumers with cheaper goods and granted U.S. businesses access to new markets. Trump this week taking a first step toward raising trade barriers, imposing a tariff on Canadian softwood lumber. It's unclear when talks on renegotiating NAFTA might begin.