NAFTA eclipses tariffs in trade game

Derek Scissors for the American Enterprise Institute: NAFTA is the big game. The importance of Canada and Mexico is often overlooked: $1.3 trillion in goods and services traded last year, almost one-fourth of the U.S. total. The trade deficit with the two combines to $70 billion, only 12 percent of the full deficit. The Chinese share is 59 percent.

If we update NAFTA, we get better protection for an estimated 28 million American jobs supported by intellectual property. We get a digital trade chapter where there isn’t one now, as digital commerce has transformed the U.S. since NAFTA was signed. We clear the path for rising U.S. energy exports to Mexico and a powerhouse North American energy trade group.