Donald Trumps heralds ‘new dawn’ with trade deal
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President Donald Trump said a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico would bring thousands of jobs back to North America in a “new dawn” for US factory workers.
Speaking at the White House, the President said the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) vindicated his threats over tariffs.
The agreement governs more than $1tn (£767bn) in trade and replaces Nafta, which was signed in 1994.
Mr Trump said it was “truly historic”.
The President held the press conference after earlier issuing tweets claiming the new trade pact solves the “deficiencies and mistakes” in Nafta.
He said the new deal was “much more reciprocal” than Nafta, which he described as “perhaps the worst trade deal ever made”.
“These measures will support many – hundreds of thousands – American jobs,” Mr Trump said.
He has adopted an “America First” policy and launched a trade war against China, as well as imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Mexico and Canada.
“Without tariffs we wouldn’t be talking about a deal,” the Mr Trump said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the trade deal was “profoundly beneficial” to Canadians.
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However, he said it was too soon to talk to China, on which the US has imposed three rounds of tariffs this year, about a trade deal.
“China wants to talk, very badly … [we] can’t talk now because they’re not ready,” Mr Trump said.
Other trading partners had been tough on the US, he said, including the European Union, which introduced retaliatory tariffs on US goods in June.
The president said he was having “a successful negotiation” with the EU.
He said it was “privilege” for other countries to trade with the US: “So we have negotiated this new agreement [with Mexico and Canada] based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity – to me it’s the most important world in trade, because we’ve been treated so unfairly by so many nations all over the world.”
The new deal – which he dubbed US MCA – was “terrific” for all three countries.
