President Trump on Monday told labor leaders that his administration will pursue “beautiful” bilateral trade agreements that boost job growth and trigger a manufacturing revival.
During a sit-down meeting with more than a dozen union and labor bosses, the president touted his decision earlier in the day to pull the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership through executive action.
“I just signed a very powerful document and we’re going to have one-on-one,” Trump said of the trade deals his administration plans to negotiate, adding that they won’t be “one of these deals where you can’t get out of them and it’s a disaster.”
“If somebody misbehaves, we’re going to send them a letter of termination,” he said. “Thirty days and they’ll either straighten it out or we’re gone.”
The meeting included representatives from the Sheet Metal Workers Union, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and North America’s Building Trades Union, among others.
Trump, who has often attributed increased outsourcing of American jobs to multilateral trade agreements, told his guests to expect “a lot of building” once he begins renegotiating NAFTA and pursuing bilateral deals with other countries.
“We’re going to have plant expansion. You guys will be responsible for getting those plants built in nine months instead of 18 months,” he told the group.
Trump also met with several corporate leaders Monday morning for a roundtable discussion about innovation and tax reform. He plans to end the day by meeting with congressional leaders and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
