Trump threatens to go 'bilateral' on NAFTA

The Trump administration has alarmed Canada, Mexico, and business groups in numerous ways during the renegotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement, but one particularly audacious proposal has been to go “bilateral”: Break NAFTA into two separate trade deals, one with Canada and one with Mexico.

“As President Trump has said, we hope for a successful completion of these talks, and we would prefer a three-way, tripartite agreement. If that proves impossible, we are prepared to move on a bilateral basis, if agreement can be made,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in Mexico City at the conclusion of the seventh round of talks in early March.