President Trump is considering separate negotiations with Canada and Mexico on an update to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who announced the possible shift in strategy on Fox News Tuesday morning, added that Trump will not withdraw from NAFTA, but noted the president prefers bilateral trade deals.
“Canada is a different country than Mexico, they have different problems and you know, he believed bilateral is always better. He hates large treaties. I know this is just three countries but still, you know, often times when you have to compromise with a whole bunch of countries you get the worst of the deals,” Kudlow said. “He will try a different approach. I can’t offer timing here, but judging from what he told us yesterday, I think he would like to start that approach rather quickly actually.”
Kudlow said he has yet to hear back from Canada after proposing the new, format for the talks.
In response to Kudlow’s announcement, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch said the talks should remain trilateral between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
“Now is the time to stay the course and work with our trading partners to find a path forward on an updated NAFTA that will…gain the support of Congress,” the Utah Republican tweeted on Tuesday.
Negotiations on an update to NAFTA have stalled over disagreements on how to address automotive provisions, and language that Trump hopes will encourage more investment in America. Congressional leaders had hoped that the discussions would wrap up in May, giving Congress time to review and possibly ratify the new trade deal.
The administration’s new plan for negotiations with Canada and Mexico come after the Trump administration decided to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports on the two countries and the European Union after delaying the duties for several weeks.
