Nafta neighbors will ‘come to their senses and make a sensible deal,’ Ross says in defending U.S. stance

 

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council on Tuesday. PHOTO: RALPH ALSWANG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

 

Washington- Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross defended the Trump administration’s hardball strategy for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, suggesting that the U.S. can pressure Mexico and Canada into big concessions because they have more to lose if the pact collapses.

A U.S. withdrawal “would be devastating to the Mexican economy,” Mr. Ross told The Wall Street Journal CEO Council on Tuesday. “It’s also a big-time problem for Canada,” he said.

He noted that because those countries are more dependent on the U.S. than vice versa, the termination of the 23-year-old pact “would be far more damaging to them than to us.”

The likely result, Mr. Ross said, was that the two countries will “come to their senses and make a sensible deal.”

President Donald Trump has branded Nafta “a disaster,” and threatened to withdraw unless the two countries agree to rewrite the pact. Negotiations on a new Nafta began in August, and a fifth round of talks is slated to open in Mexico City this week. The parties have said they are aiming to reach a deal by March.

 

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