The Art of Rebranding

[Pete F.]

The U.S. and Canada reached a deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed a quarter-century ago, with a new pact that the Trump administration says is easier to enforce.

In remarks in the Rose Garden formally announcing the agreement, President Trump called it "the most important trade deal we've ever made by far."

Ahead of the midnight deadline set by the White House, Trump approved changes that essentially revamp the 1993 NAFTA deal, bringing Canada on board after Mexico had already agreed in August.

"Through out the campaign I promised to renegotiate NAFTA," Trump said, referring to one of his major campaign themes. "Today," he said, "we have kept that promise."

"My expectation all along was that there would be few major changes and NAFTA would go from being one of the worst deals ever to the one of the best," said Jim O'Sullivan, an economist with High Frequency Economics.

[spence]

Funny thing is most of the changes were already negotiated under Obama just not yet implemented.

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by spence

Funny thing is most of the changes were already negotiated under Obama just not yet implemented.

Why weren't they implemented? And what are the changes beside the "most of" which were not negotiated? And is it all a good thing? Or, because Trump got it done, is it bad, except that if Obama had accomplished it, it would have been a good thing?

[Pete F.]

A few canadian news comments on NAFTA 2.0
Judging by the initial reaction, a setback for freer trade on the continent will be judged a “win” for all involved: Trump gets his first “major” trade deal just in time for the midterm elections; Mexico’s outgoing president, Enrique Peña Nieto, will leave office with significant accomplishment of his own, and the president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will avoid beginning his term on Dec. 1 with the headache of a trilateral trade negotiation; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will be able to say that he successfully defended his country from an economic calamity.
Trudeau did well to avoid a major disruption in trade rules that would have hurt investment and further monopolized the time of the trade professionals at Global Affairs Canada. The latter is important, because if Trudeau is serious about freer trade, he will need those men and women to pursue that goal somewhere other than North America.

[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by spence

Funny thing is most of the changes were already negotiated under Obama just not yet implemented.

So, you think it is funny and agree with implementing the changes?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[wdmso]

It's all about saying he filled another campaign promise . Optics ... Details tend to come later and good or bad out come's show in decades not minutes But with Trump it's the greatest deal ever what I found laughable was the 16.00 dollar an hour wage other than Mexico 16 buck is the new minum wage .

But Base will see this as something divine

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by wdmso

It's all about saying he filled another campaign promise . Optics ... Details tend to come later and good or bad out come's show in decades not minutes But with Trump it's the greatest deal ever what I found laughable was the 16.00 dollar an hour wage other than Mexico 16 buck is the new minum wage .

But Base will see this as something divine

Wasn't one of the reasons that jobs were "shipped" out of our country was because they went to places where the price of labor was low enough to move there?

And "divine"? That is an "extreme" characterization.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by spence

Funny thing is most of the changes were already negotiated under Obama just not yet implemented.

Like the War on ISIS?

[spence]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

So, you think it is funny and agree with implementing the changes?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I think it's funny we have all this hyperbolic drama and pretty much end up with business as usual.

[Pete F.]

The biggest problem is Trump doesn't understand trade and trade deficits.
It is not as simple as import vs export.
If he really thinks it is so important, a "good" recession will cut it by a lot. He may accomplish that with tariffs.
Here is an opinion piece by that liberal bastion, The Cato Institute, that might illuminate how it works.
https://www.cato.org/publications/co...ngry-misguided