With NAFTA deal in hand, Trump administration claims vindication on aggressive tactics

President Trump’s deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement with the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement used extreme rhetoric and aggressive policy to achieve its results. The White House and the deal’s supporters argued the results vindicated this approach, pointing to changes in auto import rules, changes to Mexican factory wages, and opening Canada to more U.S. dairy products as proof.

Administration officials argued it took somebody willing to get tough to make any progress at all. “I would like to thank the president for his leadership and grit,” said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at a Rose Garden event Monday announcing the deal. “No other person could have done it.”